GROWING WILD: A wild golden monkey is seen with its baby at the Qinling Mountains in Yangxian County, Shaanxi Province, on August 26. The number of such monkeys, counted among China's "national treasures," has increased by 30 in the region since the beginning of 2013 (CHEN HAINING)

Lawyer Service

There are 1.6 lawyers on average for every 10,000 Chinese citizens, with Beijing having the most per capita and Tibet the least, according to an industry report released on August 27.

The ratio of lawyers per 10,000 people is an important indicator of development in the legal industry, said the report released by the All China Lawyers Association.

As of 2012, China had had a total of 232,384 lawyers, with an average annual growth of 9.1 percent, while 26.6 percent of lawyers were women, it said.

According to the report, six provincial-level regions have less than one lawyer per 10,000 people, including Anhui, Qinghai, Gansu, Guizhou, Jiangxi and Tibet.

China has 19,361 law firms, increasing 6 percent annually on average.

Red Tape Cut

The CPC's first campaign to cut regulatory red tape has seen the abolition of nearly 40 percent of intra-Party rules introduced by the central authority since 1978.

In the cleaning-up move initiated in June 2012, 300 of the 767 regulations or normative documents introduced by the central authority have been abolished or nullified, according to a CPC Central Committee circular made public on August 28.

Forty-two of the remaining 467 regulations still in effect will undergo revisions, it said.

Those abolished or nullified were deemed either inconsistent with the CPC Constitution and policies or the country's Constitution and laws due to changes in the Party or national conditions, or were judged to overlap with others, according to the circular.

Under the plan, the Party's disciplinary watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, various departments of the central authority and local Party committees have also been checking through more than 20,000 regulations and normative documents within their jurisdiction.

Border Control

A foreign ministry official said on August 27 that China is studying human biological identification technology that could be used to strengthen security and improve entry/exit management.

Cui Aimin, Deputy Director General of the Department of Consular Affairs (Center for Consular Assistance and Protection), made the remarks while taking questions from reporters at a press briefing.

China's top legislature reformed exit and entry law in July 2012, introducing a common international practice by which immigration authorities may collect fingerprints and other biodata from those who exit or enter Chinese territory.

The number of foreign nationals entering China has been increasing by 10 percent annually since 2000, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

China's police authorities have collected fingerprints upon entry since 2005 to improve efficiency of immigration procedures and protect national security.

Island Monitoring

China's sea island monitoring and surveillance system, which aims to provide information for islet protection, management, law enforcement and scientific research, has begun a trial run.

Accordingly, various marine surveillance agencies will be interconnected, with information available to them updated promptly. In addition, law enforcement archives will be computerized, the State Oceanic Administration said on August 23.

The system will help boost islet management and law enforcement efficiency by sharing information across 124 marine surveillance agencies, and will be used to issue early warnings in the event of emergencies.