BEIJING, Dec. 22 -- A senior Tibetan lawmaker called to attention ethnic "discrimination" in the Chinese mainland on Tuesday.

"In recent years, there have been recurring instances where people with ethnic backgrounds, even Han people, were discriminated against or denied access to certain service trades, such as transport stations, airports and wharfs, as well as in security checks at exit-entry frontiers, checking-in at hotels and in shopping," Qiangba Puncog, vice chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee told fellow lawmakers.

He was speaking at a bimonthly session of the NPC Standing Committee to explain a report on enforcement of China's regional ethnic autonomy law.

Despite the government's repeated effort to fully implement China's ethnic policies, the problem persists and has "generated unwanted social impact and caused strong public reactions from ethnic regions," the official said.

"Such practices which run counter to the regional ethnic autonomy law must be resolutely rectified," Qiangba said.

China officially has 56 ethnic groups including the Han, which makes up the largest population. The other 55 ethnic groups are relatively small and called ethnic minorities, although ethnic autonomous areas in the country account for 64 percent of its total land territory.