A senior lawmaker, who happens to be a woman, said that women should not be treated differently than men who are currently offered five years more for work before compulsory retirement from civil service, the English-language newspaper China Daily reported on Saturday.
Chen Zhili, vice chairwoman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, was quoted by the newspaper as saying, "I hope an alternative policy can be considered for state-run institutions in Beijing to allow their women employees to retire at the same age as their male counterparts if they so wish."
Male public servants are asked to retire at 60 years of age whereas their female colleagues 55.
A number of lawmakers have already called for a change in the law, and a legislative hearing on the issue is in the works, the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress said in January, the newspaper said.
"Getting women civil servants to retire at 55 is a terrible waste of human resources, particularly for those who have doctorates or master's degrees," Jiang Yongping, director of the federation's women's research institute, was also quoted by China Daily.