CHENGDU, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- China is going to upgrade its national judicial examination to ensure the legal system secures the very best talents, as part of judicial reforms.

According to central government guidelines, by 2017 the current judicial examination will only be open to graduates majoring in law or people who have worked in law-related fields for a certain number of years. Accordingly, this year's exam, scheduled Saturday, is likely to be the last chance for many to take the exam.

The reforms have led to a record high number of people applying to take the exam this year. In Sichuan Province alone, the number of applicants surged to nearly 30,000, up 23 percent on 2015.

Unlike other exams, the national judicial exam, organized by the Ministry of Justice, is designed to bring talent into the country's political and legal system, said Wang Xiaoming, deputy secretary general of Beijing Municipal Government.

"The quality of the candidates passing the exam affect the basis of China's legal system," he said.

Initiated in 2002, the national judicial examination has been dubbed "China's hardest exam" as the pass rate is as low as 20 percent.

Many people take the exam year after year, in the hope of finding a legal job, and attendees range from 17 to 70 years old

Figures show more than 4 million people had taken the exam by the end of 2013, but only 300,000 of them entered legal professions.

CALLS FOR REFORM

Yang Hao, a law graduate with a master's degree from Sichuan University, spends eight hours per day preparing for the exam, which covers several areas, including criminal, civil and international law.

"I'm confident I can pass it this time," he said.

Yang failed the exam in 2013. In contrast, one of his schoolmates who majored in history - a self-described "law illiterate" - passed the exam after attending a cramming school that cost 8,000 yuan (1,200 U.S. dollars).

Wan Yi, who used to work designing the exam, said the current examination paper, mostly multiple-choice questions, does not properly screen talent, as non-legal majors can get a high score and pass the exam, but still fail to meet standards required to practice law.

"It's ironic for both the examination system and legal education," Wan said. "The exam now tests one's legal knowledge, instead of his or her comprehensive understanding of the law."

　　Wang Song, a judge at a court in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, said incompetent legal personnel not only mislead clients, but also waste hearing time by bringing obstacles to court.

　　"In a case of contract dispute worth 100 million yuan, a lawyer at a court could not even distinguish between basic legal concepts ... and he also did not remember related articles of law," Wang said.

　　Accordingly, there have been calls to upgrade the examination so that only excellent legal candidates are picked for the country's legal system, especially in the last two years as China steps up judicial reforms.

　　As requested by the fourth plenary session of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee held in October 2014, 48 reforms were designed to improve the judiciary, including litigation reform to prioritize trials, letting judges assume lifelong responsibility for cases they handle and holding judges accountable for miscarriages of justice.

　　The reforms should create a stronger legal system, improve the professional threshold and encourage exchanges between legal practitioners and researchers.

　　MORE EXPECTED

　　According to national guidelines released in late 2015, the reformed judicial examination will not only specify qualifications of applicants, but also change from the current multiple-choice questions to more subjective ones involving case analysis to test applicants' understanding of law and capacity to apply it.

　　Other systems related to selecting legal elites, such as pre-service training, judge and prosecutor selection, recruitment of public servants and legal education, are also listed on the reform agenda.

　　Tang Wei, head of Wuhou District People's Court in Chengdu, said a judge needs to communicate with related parties, control the hearing progress and learn skills such as interrupting and stopping statements of parties at court if necessary. All these are absent at school courses, and cannot be evaluated through examinations, he said.

　　"From law students to judges, one needs far more than mere examinations," he said.