A female student has written to the CEOs of a number of China's top 500 enterprises to protest against sexual discrimination in the work place, Beijing Times reported.

Zheng Churan, a senior student at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong province, called on the enterprises to issue statements supporting equal employment and to lift the unfair demands and limits against female candidates.

When Zheng was looking for jobs, she found many enterprises advertised for "men only" or "women above 165 cm".

Zheng says companies assume women are distracted by family and can't focus on work. Bearing children also adds to the company's cost, she added.

"Companies impose more limit conditions on women than on men when choosing who to employ rather than selecting talent according to their abilities."

The companies she wrote to include China National Petroleum Corporation, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, China Mobile, the State Grid Corporation and other top enterprises.