Political adviser: keep promoting the rule of law

Re-education through labor, or laojiao, originated in the mid-1950s as a means of dealing with counterrevolutionaries and rightists, but from the 1980s its focus was expanded to various forms of social deviancy. It enabled the police to sentence habitual petty criminals to up to four years' detention without trial.

Laojiao had been widely criticized and was officially abolished in December 2013.

This year, Hou is going to suggest the country draft a law against discrimination in employment.

"Discriminations in employment, such as by gender, region, and hukou (household registration), can be seen everywhere," said Hou, "There are so many cases that people almost take it for granted."

Hou cited a case in Nankai that even administrative staff had to have graduated from the "211" and "985", two official higher education programs.

"Whether a candidate is qualified for these posts has nothing to do with his or her university," Hou said.

It is not the first time that Hou submitted such a proposal. "Currently we haven't seen any move towards making this law, but I will keep making proposals on it."