"We have drawn many good clauses from foreign laws for our use, and many experts, including experts from the United States, have given us helpful suggestions," said Duan Zhengkun, vice-minister of justice. Duan said the ministry is grateful for the outside help.

But in a country such as China with a huge population, Duan said, the legal aid system must take China's relatively underdeveloped social and economic situations into consideration.

China started to build the legal aid system in the late 1980s, and the system is still immature in comparison with that of Western countries.

More than 60 Chinese legal experts and 15 US law professionals exchanged views at the symposium. Speaking at the forum, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the US Supreme Court encouraged law experts from both countries to work together.

Introducing China's legal aid system to US guests, Duan said the country has 29 provincial legal aid organizations, 301 city-level organizations and 1,152 district-level legal aid centres.

Guangdong Province and the cities of Qingdao, Hangzhou, Xiamen and Wuhan have issued local legal aid regulations last year, said Duan. He said other provinces and major cities are expected to establish regulations before the end of this year.

"China will develop its legal aid system based on the rule of law," Duan said.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Justice, China has logged more than 320,000 legal aid cases since 1998, benefiting some 3 million people. About 162,000 cases took place from January to May.

In the next two days, experts form China and the United States will deliver and discuss research papers on legal aid.

(China Daily)