BEIJING -- A total of 4,329 people from Taiwan have taken the national judicial examination and the unified qualification exam for legal professionals on the mainland, with 415 of them having passed the exams, according to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Sunday.

And 5,164 and 601 residents from Hong Kong and Macao have also sat the exams since 2004, with 440 Hong Kong examinees and 42 Macao examinees passing the exams.

China held its first unified qualification exam for legal professionals in September last year as a result of a reform of the former national judicial examination, which was held annually from 2002 to 2017.

In last year's exam, 174 examinees from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan passed the exam, some of whom received their qualification certificates at presentation ceremonies Saturday and Sunday in the southern cities of Shenzhen and Xiamen.

Administrative organs in justice will continue to implement and improve the system for the qualification exam for legal professionals, and provide people from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan with more convenience and quality services for signing up for the exam, said MOJ.