Delegates embrace outside the Great Hall of the People to celebrate the International Women's Day after the second plenary meeting of the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing on March 8, 2022.

A draft amendment to the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests was submitted to China's top legislature for its second review, under which a compulsory reporting system is expected to be established in order to prevent trafficking of women.

The 34th Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), which is being held from Monday to Wednesday in Beijing, is reviewing the draft amendment.

China's Ministry of Public Security launched a special campaign on March 1 that runs to December 31 to crack down on the trafficking of women and children, following the tragic case of a trafficked woman in East China's Jiangsu Province, which sparked a huge wave of controversy in the country.

Agencies of household and marriage registration, local governments and their dispatching sub-district offices, as well as self-governing organizations in cities and villages, should report to public security agencies immediately if they find women suspected of being abducted or kidnapped, according to the amendment.

Hotels and other accommodation providers should precisely record the information of their guests and report to the police if they suspect something is wrong, read the amendment.

As another major adjustment to the law, which came into force nearly 30 years ago, the second reading of the draft amendment plans to establish a compulsory report and investigation system for abducting and selling women and other infringements, stipulating that marriage registration authorities, local governments and their staff who find women suspected of being abducted shall report this to public security organs in a timely manner.

Lü Xiaoquan, a lawyer from Qianqian, a Beijing-based legal firm that specializes in women's rights, suggested that the work of safeguarding women's rights and interests in accordance with the law should be included in the performance appraisal indicators of local governments, which is a practical measure.

Lü told the Global Times on Monday that this draft amendment is a major progress as it gets rid of overly principled advocacy and improves the operability and feasibility of the provisions.

Lü believes that, after the amendments, the law can provide more detailed and precise provisions for judges, which will be good to promote women's protection.

The draft amendment was submitted to the Standing Committee of the NPC for deliberation in December 2021.

On April 14, Zang Tiewei, spokesperson for the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the NPC, said at a press conference that they had received more than 420,000 comments from the public after the first reading of the law in December 2021, vowing that the second draft of the amendment would actively respond to public concerns.

The draft adds provisions on improving the maternity leave system for employees, which can not only protect the rights and interests of female employees but promote the implementation of national childbirth and childbearing policies.

Also, the draft will require schools to check the criminal records of teachers, volunteers and community workers who are to be employed and decline those with sexual assault or harassment records, in a bid to prevent sexual harassment and assault of female minors in schools.