Hu Fang, a 33-year-old woman from Hangzhou, the capital of east China's Zhejiang province, finally decided to go to court.

As the Legal Assistance Center of Xiacheng District has offered to help, she finally felt strong enough to go through the divorce suit.

"I am going to divorce my husband. The man has kept away from our home for a long time, showing not the least concern for me or our 12-month-old baby girl," said Hu.

"I didn't have the money and ability to file the suit before, but now I can do this."

Hu said Liu Qin, a female student at the law school of Zhejiang Industrial University, has been assigned by the center to represent her in court.

Statistics released by the National Working Conference on Legal Assistance in Hangzhou show about 970,000 underprivileged Chinese people had received help from legal assistance centers in China in the past five years.

Lawyers with professional qualifications and experience undertook most of the legal assistance cases, which numbered more than 800,000 over the past five years, said Gao Zongze, president of the All-china Lawyers Association.

According to existing regulations, needy and underprivileged people in China may seek free legal assistance from lawyers in general, professional legal assistance providers, notaries, grass-roots legal service workers and legal assistance volunteers from social groups and law schools.

Many lawyers accept legal assistance cases readily.

"Many times, I simply cannot reject such requests when I learn the difficult situations of my clients," said Zhang Shunhong, director of the Hangzhou-based Nanfang Zhongchen Lawyer's Office.

"Besides, fairness and justice are the aspirations of lawyers."

Zhang, who handled 12 legal assistance cases in 2002, has accepted four such cases so far this year.

China's Ministry of Justice made the decision to establish the legal assistance system in early 1994 and, by the end of June this year, 2,642 legal assistance institutions had been established across China.

In the developed coastal regions in east and south China, like Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces, legal assistance facilities have entered urban communities and townships, joining women's federations, federations of the handicapped people and other social groups to provide aid to underprivileged groups.

In addition, China is considering the institution of a legal assistance system backed by regular legal assistance lawyers. These lawyers, to be funded by the public, are expected to become experts in dealing with legal assistance cases, said Duan Zhengkun, vice-minister of justice, at the ongoing working conference in Hangzhou.

Northeast China's Jilin province has started pilot operation of the system, exploring ways to foster a team of public-funded lawyers that specialize in providing free legal assistance on behalf of the government.

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