Steve Roses and Chang Wang of  Thomson Reuters recently offered a Webinar on the Chinese Legal System and their WestlawChina database. As part of their presentation, they reported the following information about China:

1986 = 989,409 civil cases

2007 = 5,333,546 civil cases

 

40,000 laws and regulations issued since 1978.

 

Over 800 international arbitral awards each year.

 

143,000 attorneys in 2008 (up from 40,000 in 1993)

 

Lawyers per population

China  1:8.500

U.S. 1:300

 

Over 630 law schools and law departments with 244,121 law students.

 

12% pass rate for the Chinese bar exam.

Unfortunately, they did not provide sources for the information, but it does paint an interesting picture of the legal system and legal education in China. Many thanks to Steve and Chang for sharing their expertise and data.