BEIJING — China guarantees the rights of lawyers to fulfill their missions in line with law, regarding them an important force in promoting the rule of law, a spokeswoman for the annual session of China’s top legislature said on March 4.

Lawyers should be examples of observing law and they will face legal punishment if they violate law, said Fu Ying, spokeswoman for the Fourth Session of the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC), at a press conference.

She said she did not agree with the label of so-called “human rights lawyers”, which seemed to be a classification in a political sense.

Lawyers have been an important group in China’s society to ensure the proper implementation of law and safeguard social fairness and justice. The number of lawyers has increased from about 2,000 in 1979 to more than 300,000 now, Fu added.