Legal service tour benefits northernmost province of Heilongjiang

Since 2015, lawyers from Harbin, capital of China's northernmost province of Heilongjiang, have traveled over 15,000 kilometers on large-scale legal service tours, bringing professional services to more than 8,000 people across the province.

Aimed at implementing the national policy of overall law-based governance, providing legal aid and promoting laws and regulations, the judicial authority of Heilongjiang, together with the province's TV station, launched its first legal service tour after Spring Festival in 2015, which provided pro bono services in places not far from Harbin.

Over the following four years, the tour significantly extended its coverage to places as remote as the border city of Heihe, around 600 kilometers north of Harbin.

In Heihe, the Chinese lawyers were joined by their Russian peers who crossed the border to provide foreign-related legal services for Russian citizens living in Heihe. 

This year's legal service tour kicked off in late August in Yichun, a city known for its vast forest.

During the tour, the lawyers persuaded a local resident, who repeatedly complained about what he alleged the improper handling of a traffic accident, to take legal action.

In addition, the lawyers went to the countryside to conduct legal counseling and mediation service for villagers. They also cooperated with notary professionals to provide rural enterprises with notary services.

People with financial difficulties also received free legal services as the tour arrived in the city of Hailin, its last stop this year.

Apart from helping disadvantaged people, the lawyers sought to address the concerns of the local government and entrepreneurs by providing legal advice on such issues as environmental protection and counterfeit products.