BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Construction of a national network for providing free legal aid to migrant rural laborers, considered a disadvantaged group, was launched here on Saturday.

    The program, with an investment of 3.6 million yuan (about 460,000 U.S. dollars), was jointly launched by the UNDP China office and the All-China Lawyers' Association. It aims to train lawyers and help them set up local offices in more than 20 provinces in one year.

    The network will further expand to cover more areas of China in the future, said Yu Ning, head of the association.

    Yu said that before Saturday's launching ceremony, several offices for providing legal aid to migrant rural workers have already been established in Beijing, Hebei and Henan.

    The Beijing migrant rural worker legal assistance center, established in September 2005, has helped more than 40,000 workers solve labor disputes, involving more than 200 million yuan (25.6 million U.S. dollars).

    Statistics from the Legal Aid Center under the Ministry of Justice show various legal organizations provided legal assistance to more than 125,000 migrant rural workers in 2006, up 65 percent over 2005.

    The government has enhanced protection of rights and interests of migrant rural laborers, which number more than 200 million, in recent years to promote social harmony and maintain social stability.