China has amended its Criminal Procedural Law to give foreign nationals access to free legal services when they go to court.

While the law was initially revised in 2013, government officials have decided to widen its scope to make legal services more accessible to convicted foreigners, not just to those facing death sentences but also life sentences and even to those suffering from financial difficulties.

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The influx of foreign nationals to China has been rising in recent years. At least 60 million foreigners had entered the country in the last year alone, according to the Ministry of Public Security, noting that the figure was double the record 10 years ago.

Given the increase in number of foreign nationals in the country, it is unavoidable that some of these nationals would be involved in criminal cases from time to time, said Legal Aid Center Deputy Director Sang Ning.

Most of the crimes, which involve human and drug trafficking, rape, murder, and robbery, are prevalent in the coastal areas of Yunnan and Guangdong. Past records have shown a good number of offenders hail from the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Europe, China Daily cited.

If a Chinese lawyer wasn't provided to me, I probably would have been dealt with life in prison rather than a lighter one given the amount of drugs I was caught with, said 50-year-old Australian Theodoros Kourtidis, who was detained in Yunnan after officials caught him transporting heroin earlier this year.

Kourtidis' appointed lawyer Zhang Zhengyi said his client had distrusted and resisted him in the beginning.

Aside from the language barrier, the differences in legal proceedings made it difficult for me to trust him, Kourtidis said, adding that he was even worried the lawyer assigned to him would collude with police to beat him up.

"But I was totally wrong," he said.

My lawyer was nice and patiently explained the legal rights afforded to me, he added.

Khourtidis and Zhang's experience wholly depicts the challenges the Ministry of Justice has to overcome to provide free legal aid to foreign offenders.

To do this, the ministry will need to focus on training lawyers to practice patience, improve communication and language skills and acquire experience.

The ministry has also provided 20,000 volunteer lawyers to provide the free aid to foreign clients.

TagsLaw Crime, Legal aid, Lawyer, Legal profession