in China and outside of the government argue that any real improvement is impossible without fundamental changes in the political system. (See human rights in the People's Republic of China) The expansion of the legal profession has been beneficial for legal awareness. As of 2002, there have been established 2,156 legal aid centres staffed by over 7000 full-time legal professionals. According to the Ministry of Justice, this system will continue to expand, given that "establishing a legal aid system" is a priority of the Chinese government as outlined by the 10th Five-Year Plan (adopted April 2002). Hong Kong and Macau The legal systems of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macau Special Administrative Region are excepted from the legal framework of Mainland China by the doctrine of "one country, two systems" established by Deng Xiaoping. The NPC of the PRC enacted the Basic Law of Hong Kong SAR (April 1990) and Basic Law of Macau SAR (March 1993) to ensure state sovereignty and at the same time the special economic position of those two regions. Since both statutes are national laws, no local laws, including ordinances, administrative regulations and other normative documents, can violate the Basic Law. The Basic Law of both regions states that the existing capitalist system and the people's way of life shall remain unchanged for at least 50 years, and the laws previously in force shall be maintained. In Hong Kong, the legal system is based on English Common Law and Macau based on Portuguese civil law. See also List of statutes of the People's Republic of China People's Republic of China's trademark law Legal systems of the world References Further reading English Albert H.Y. Chen, "An Introduction to the Legal System of the People's Republic of China", Hong Kong: Lexis Nexis, 2011. - Published online on March 25, 2014 Wang Chengguang and Zhang Xianchu, Introduction to Chinese Law. Hong Kong: Sweet & Maxwell Asia, 1997. Laws and regulations of the People's Republic of China, Volume 1, compiled by the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, Beijing, China : China Legal Pub. House, 2001-, 16 volumes. Chinese Chen Shouyi, Faxue jichu lilun 法学基础理论 (Theories on the Basis of Legal Science). Beijing: Beijing Daxue Chubanshe (Beijing University Press), 1984. Shen Zongling (ed.), Fali xue 法理学 (Jurisprudence). Taipei: Wunan Book Publisher, 1994. External links Chinese CEI Chinese Law and Regulation (国信中国法律网) Hosted by the State