In one case, Tang Hui, a woman in central China's Hunan Province, was sentenced to internment in a labor camp in August after demanding tougher penalties for the seven men convicted of abducting, raping and prostituting her 11-year-old daughter. She was released within a week following complaints from the public and academics rocked the nation.

In another case, Ren Jianyu, 25, was arrested in 2011 for forwarding and commenting on more than 100 pieces of "negative information" online. A month after his arrest, he was given a two-year term in a labor camp for "incitement to subvert state power" without a court process. Ren was released in November last year after serving over half of his sentence.

The central authorities have recognized the need for the reform. In January, a national political and legal work conference put the process as a priority for 2013.

Some provinces have already acted. Southwest Yunnan has stopped sending people to re-education through labor camps on grounds including threatening national security, petitioning by causing unrest, and smearing the image of officials.

In late January, south China's Guangdong Province said it had made plans to end the system within the year.

However, Yang Weicheng said full abolishment of laojiao was still difficult at the moment and reducing its use could be a measure applied during the transition.

In Deng Hui's opinion, the first and foremost task of the reform is to hand over the right to execute laojiao to judicial authorities, while at the same time give a bigger role to community correction as a possible substitute.

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