China should suspend the retirement age for both male and female employees to the age of 65 in 30 years, urged a member of China's top legislative body on Monday.

Zheng Gongcheng, a deputy to the National People's Congress, proposed that the retirement age reform should first be implemented for female employees.

Zheng made the remarks during a forum on social reform and innovation held at Renmin University of China in Beijing, where he is a professor of social security.

Currently, the retirement age on the Chinese mainland is 60 for men, 55 for female white-collar workers and 50 for female manual laborers.

The recently concluded Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee articulated that China will gradually raise the retirement ages.

Zheng said the top leadership made the decision based on various facts including that Chinese are living longer and have spent more years in schools and universities compared with previous generations.

Most importantly, China must further promote gender equality by allowing women to withdraw from the labor market at the same age as men, he stressed.

The current retirement ages have deprived women's right to work, leading to few opportunities for promotion as well as loss in income and welfare benefits, he said.

Rather than implementing an immediate change, the government should think about prolonging the retirement age about two to six months every year until both men and women share the retirement age of 65 in 30 years, he added.

It is vital to create more incentives to encourage employees to work longer, he said.