More disadvantaged citizens have received legal assistance as the government has invested more on legal services, said the Ministry of Justice Tuesday.

About 946,000 people sought free legal assistance last year, an year-on-year increase of 15.4 percent, with the majority being migrant workers, the disabled, women and children, said the ministry statement.

Among those receiving legal aid last year, about 33 percent were migrant workers, a year-on-year growth of 16.1 percent, it said.

China now has about 3,573 government-sponsored legal aid centers with a total staff of 13,800, while practicing lawyers also take legal aid cases.

They handled about 844,000 legal aid cases in 2011, up 16.1 percent over that of 2010, the statement said.

In 2011, the central budget for legal aid centers increased from 100 million yuan (16 million US dollars) in 2010 to 200 million yuan in 2011, said the ministry statement.

In addition, part of the revenue from lottery programs also went to legal aid. The figure increased from 50 million to 100 million yuan last year.

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