The number of judges will increase by 10 percent in China over the next few years in an effort to make up the country's inadequate trial force, said Xiao Yang, president of the Chinese Supreme Court, at an on-going national court work meeting.

A national higher court presidents' meeting held here from Dec.16-18 released statistics showing that Chinese courts dealt with 8.08 million criminal, civil and administrative cases in 2003, 4.59 million more than in 1993.

The number and variety of cases has risen remarkably in China in recent years, but the number of judges and clerks remains unchanged, causing difficulties for courts to ensure timely trials.

Jiang Yunchang, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court said Saturday that 12,782 judges and clerks will be recruited for local courts, especially for local courts at the grassroots levels.

Source: Xinhua