Petition letters to be subject of doctoral analysis

China's first doctoral program on the quantitative analysis of petition letters and calls was set up at China University of Political Science and Law on Monday, a development which experts said would contribute to research and reform of China's petition system.

The program is to be established jointly by Beijing Institute of Letters to Government and the university's School of Political Science and Public Administration.

Fu Guangwan, professor of the school, said, "In an era of big data, qualitative analysis alone can't meet the increasing demand of research on petitions, and quantitative summarization and induction is urgently needed under such circumstances."