China's first bill meant to combat domestic violence is likely to be tabled for a first reading in August, said a spokeswoman for the country's top legislature Wednesday.

"If things go smoothly, we expect the law to take shape after two or three readings," said Fu Ying, spokeswoman of the third session of the 12th National People's Congress.

A draft of the anti-domestic violence law was published by the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council to solicit public opinion in November 2014, which identified domestic violence as physical and psychological abuse of spouses, parents, children and other relatives.

The biggest controversy about the bill is under what conditions authorities should step into the private affairs of a couple or family, Fu said.

"It is difficult to reach a consensus on where to draw a line since the Chinese society is still relatively conservative," she said.

According to the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), nearly 25 percent of Chinese women have suffered domestic violence in their marriage.

The Supreme People's Court (SPC), the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice released guidelines for dealing with domestic violence cases on Wednesday, the first such set of guidelines in China. 

The guidelines state that offenders who abuse family members and cause serious injury or death could be considered guilty of intentional injury or intentional homicide, both of which could receive the death penalty.

Li Ying, a lawyer and director of the Beijing-based Yuanzhong Gender Development Center, told the Global Times that, criminally speaking, courts tend to treat domestic violence as abuse, which could lead to a sentence of up to seven years in jail.

"There are overlaps between these separate crimes which cause disunity in courts' verdicts. Some offenders have taken advantage of such confusion to avoid harsher punishment," Li said.

If offenders did not intend to kill the victims, or victims commit suicide because of the abuse, the offenders could be identified as the crime of abuse. Long-time victims who end up killing their abusers could receive leniency, the guidelines noted. 

The guidelines also require the police to intervene immediately once such reports are filed and judicial organs to prosecute the abusers if victims are threatened or lack of the capability to do so.

Li Ying also lauded the guidelines for including abuse in cohabitation as domestic violence, which was excluded from the draft law.

Xinhua contributed to this story

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