BEIJING — Nearly 700,000 people have signed up for the first phase of testing of China's unified qualification exam for legal professionals this year, according to the Ministry of Justice.

The number of applicants for this year's examination reached a record high, and was up 16.8 percent from last year, said the ministry.

Guangdong province saw the largest number of applicants for the examination with 56,364 signing up. The number of applicants in Beijing, Jiangsu and Shandong also exceeded 40,000.

The first phase of the exam, a test with objective questions, took place on Oct 31 and Nov 1, and the second phase of the exam featuring subjective questions will start on Nov 28.