Chinese Government Wednesday abolished a two-decade-old regulation on detention which was at the centre of a major controversy over the death of a graphics designer in Guangdong Province.

The landmark decision was made at a conference of the State Council chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao.

The cabinet agreed to throw out the obsolete rule on urban vagrants management, saying it no longer "serves the needs of the new situation".

One person commenting on the bulletin board of sina.com said it was a pity that the policy change has come by only after "lessons of blood".

He was referring to the recent death of 27-year-old graphic designer Sun Zhigang in Guangzhou. The Hubei native was killed on March 20 after being detained three days before because he was not carrying a valid residency permit. Although his employer provided the relevant document within hours, he remained in detention and was beaten to death by his roommates.

The ringleader was later sentenced to death after the tragedy was exposed by the media and stirred widespread outrage from the public nationwide.

Some legal experts have written to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, appealing for a review of the constitutionality of the detention measures after the death of Sun.

"The past two decades have witnessed great changes in the economic and social development as well as pattern of population flow in China," the State Council meeting heard.

Thus the Measures for Internment and Deportation of Urban Vagrants and Beggars, promulgated by the State Council in May, 1982, have become out of date and should be abolished, the meeting agreed.

In order to fundamentally solve the problems concerning urban vagrants and beggars, and improve China's social welfare system, the meeting examined and passed in principle a new set of management methods concerning such kinds of people.

The new rule will be promulgated and implemented based on amendments made to the draft. Details of the new rule were not available.

The decision to annul the archaic administrative regulation, the legal basis for internment and deportation by public security authorities, won immediate applause from Internet surfers, who hailed it as great step forward in the country's drive towards a more civilized society.

The move suggests that the new government, headed by President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, who took their helms in March, "is ready to do concrete deeds for the benefits and interests of the great masses of people," said one comment on the bulletin board of sina.com.

In an answer to public calls, some local governments have already amended their detention measures to ensure they do not violate the human rights of the detainees.

For example, Fuzhou, in East China's Fujian Province, has issued a notice recently regulating the city's work on the detention and repatriation of vagrants and beggars.

It stipulates that the detainees enjoy the rights of communication and personal property, and their security must be ensured. It strictly prohibits levy of charges from the detainees - a common practice in the country's detention centres - and forbids forced labour.