BEIJING -- A Communist Party of China (CPC) committee has been set up for lawyers across China, the All China Lawyers Association (ACLA).

Approved by the Organization Department of the CPC, the decision was made by the Leading Party Members' Group of the Ministry of Justice, based on a guideline on Party building in social organizations.

The committee's work includes implementing the CPC Central Committee's instructions for lawyers and guiding Party organizations within law firms to improve their rules and regulations, amongst other tasks, the ACLA said.

The committee establishment is an important measure to implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the CPC, and push forward the reform of the legal industry, said Wang Junfeng, head of the ACLA and deputy secretary of the new committee.

According to the ACLA, Party building work among lawyers has made significant progress in recent years. By the end of 2016, lawyers' associations in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, as well as Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, had established their Party organizations.

The number of Party members who are lawyers has grown from 44,000 at the end of 2008 to over 102,000 in eight years. Among the 26,000 law firms in China, 6,538 have Party branches of their own, and 10,159 have jointly set up Party branches.

Many provincial-level lawyers' associations have set up disciplinary committees, which punish those who violate the Party disciplinary rules, in order to improve the education and management of Party members, according to the ACLA.