BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China's weeklong Lunar New Year holiday could soon include the New Year's Eve after debate begins on measures to alleviate the traditional transport rush.

    Although Chinese law provides a weeklong holiday starting from the Lunar New Year, the New Year's Eve has been excluded from the list of legal holidays like the Labor Day and the National Day.

    Fourteen newspapers around the country have called for legal holiday status for the New Year's Eve, urging the government to save people the trouble of asking for leave or enduring a transport crush in order to get home on the day.

    On China's largest portal website, Sina.com, 98.7 percent of more than 200,000 website visitors approved the idea.

    The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) was researching the issue and media reports would be an important reference for decision-makers, the Guangzhou-based Information Times quoted unidentified NDRC sources as saying.

    Specific plans and timetables were not disclosed.

    The issue is also on the agenda of some legislators and political advisors, who are gathering in Beijing for their annual sessions.

    Ou Hong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, told the newspaper that he had finished a proposal for listing the New Year's Eve as a legal holiday and would submit it on Wednesday.

    "Not many people actually work on the New Year's Eve," said Wu Changkang, an associate professor of law at Sichuan University, was quoted as saying."But the problem is that those on duty on theNew Year's Eve don't enjoy the triple time pay that's legally required for working holidays," said Wu.