According to the municipal judicial departments, the old rules requiring the business premises of partnership law offices to be in office buildings with a floor space of no less than 80 square meters have been wiped.

Instead, the new more-relaxed regulations say "working conditions for the premises must be able to guarantee the normal operation of law offices".

They also include articles relating to the application qualifications of lawyers registered elsewhere and planning to start a business in the city.

Moreover, the regulations clarify rules on the management procedures and working efficiency of judicial departments.

Statistics from the Beijing Bar Association reveal that the city now has a total of 550 law offices, of which 539, or 98 percent, are partnership law offices.

Currently, there are 7,191 lawyers in Beijing, including both registered and assistant lawyers, accounting for 6 percent of the country's total of 120,000.

(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2003)