China is closer than ever to increasing the protection of its wildlife and the people who fight for animal rights.

A draft proposal to amend the country's wildlife protection law has garnered support from deputies at this year's National People's Congress.

China's wildlife protection law was passed in 1989 with the aim of sustaining wildlife as a resource.

Now academics and animal rights activists are pushing to reform the law.

Mang Ping is a professor with the Central Institute of Socialist Studies in Beijing.

Professor Mang contributed to writing the draft proposal and is optimistic about the law being changed.

"The draft proposal was backed by many NPC deputies this time. Our law says that if over 30 members jointly proposed legislation, it will get more attention during the reviewing process, which makes it eligible for the fast-track process to be made into law. So the joint proposal by 37 members this time is really something significant."

The draft proposal outlines four main amendments to the law.

These include an increase in the animal species covered under the law and more involvement by NGO's and the public in wildlife protection.

Harsher punishments for law breakers and stronger legal support for animal rights activists are also major recommendations.

But Animals Asia's China representative, Toby Zhang, says that while the current draft proposal is an important step in the right direction, it doesn't go far enough.

"We really hope that China should have animal welfare law. It's not only about wild animals but about all animals and regulate the behavior of people when they deal with animals, no matter if the animals are wild or not. If that law is in place a lot of problems will be solved."

Those problems include the repercussions for animal rights activists who choose to put themselves at risk when protecting animals.

Three weeks ago animal rights activists stopped a truck loaded up with over 900 dogs on a busy highway in Chongqing.

The dogs were headed to China's southern Guangdong province to be sold to restaurants to be served as food.

In that incident an animal activist Peng Tao who led the group told the China Daily the driver attacked him and the police had to be called.

Xie Zheng is the founder of Don't Eat Friends, a Beijing-based animal protection awareness organization.

He was there in Chongqing to stop the truck and recently stopped three illegal shipments of dogs that were being delivered to restaurants

"I thought of this as an opportunity. I didn't feel nervous or fearful. I wanted to expose the delivery of dogs to the public, and let the people know that it's immoral and illicit."

Xie and other animal rights activists chose to put themselves at risk even though they were not protected under any animal welfare protection law.

Zhang says that a new, more general animal protection law would not only benefit the animals but the people who protect them as well.

"But without this kind of law we cannot have these people carry out their protective actions very legally, very properly while there are so many people who can attack these groups of people for their behaviors like stopping the trucks in the highway and they can be easily challenged. I think that's a problem."

But Zhang says that a more general animal welfare law is not going to happen any time soon and the movement must take one step at a time.