China needs 1,500 ethnic judges by 2020

A total of 1,500 judges from ethnic groups will help ethnic people effectively solve legal problems by 2020, China's top court said on Thursday.

The ethnic judicial talent will not only provide better legal services for ethnic residents, but also improve the rule of law in their areas, according to a statement from the Supreme People's Court.

In 2015, the nation's highest court decided to alleviate the shortage of judges in regions inhabited by ethnic groups within five years and issued a guideline to educate ethnic judicial talent with the State Ethnic Affairs Commission.

So far, the court and the commission have jointly set up three educational bases in Minzu University of China, Southwest Minzu University and Northwest Minzu University. The number of judges good at Uygur and Tibetan languages has reached 300, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the top court also made efforts on judicial exchanges, inviting judges in developed cities to western areas to share experiences and arranging those from regions inhabited by ethnic groups to study in eastern provinces, it said.

Xu Jiaxin, director of the top court's political department, said last year that the exchange has narrowed the gap in legal resources across the country.