China plans to issue additional regulations to its Employment Promotion Law that will spell out which occupations are considered unsuitable for women in a bid to prevent gender discrimination, China News Service reported.

Chinese Vice-Minister of Labour and Social Security Zhang Xiaojian said on Tuesday that the detailed list will help make the employment promotion law, soon to come into effect, more executable.

"Once a list is drawn on job posts that are deemed unfit for women to taken up, then other types of jobs must be open to female employees," Zhang said in an online interview.

He added that the employment promotion law now allows employees to resort to labor arbitration or even sue their employers for job discrimination and other violations.

The Employment Promotion Law, which will come into effect from January 1 next year, has a chapter explicitly outlining the government's responsibility for employment assistance.
 
(CRI October 10, 2007)