Thirty years ago this month, the Fourth World Conference on Women was held in Beijing, where the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was adopted, creating an agenda for women's empowerment that is now considered the key global policy document on gender equality. It set strategic objectives and actions for the advancement of women and the achievement of gender equality in 12 critical areas of concern, including education and training, health, and power and decision-making. Much progress has since been made in China.

The numbers speak for themselves. Women account for 26.54 percent of the deputies to the incumbent 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, up 1.6 percentage points from the previous one (2018-22). In 2024, women accounted for 45 percent of the country's practicing physicians. In 2020, the average life expectancy of Chinese women reached 80.88 years, while that of Chinese men was 75.37 years, as compared to 75.25 and 70.83 years, respectively, in 2005.

The education level of Chinese women has also been significantly improved. The enrollment rates of both sexes in compulsory education (grades one to nine) are nearly equal. In higher education, the proportion of women has been increasing year by year, exceeding half of all students now.

With the country's rapid economic growth, women have increasing job opportunities and more employment fields are opening more widely to them, including the Internet and financial sectors as well as the science, technology and aerospace industries.

Three female astronauts have been sent into space since 2012. Many female entrepreneurs such as Dong Mingzhu, Chairwoman of home appliance giant Gree, have built influential brands.

Chinese women are playing an increasingly important role in governance and international relations. From community workers to government leaders, more women have the opportunity to offer their advice and leadership for state governance and to participate in the formulation and improvement of policies and laws. The highest-ranking woman in the Chinese Government now is State Councilor Shen Yiqin, a vice-premier-level official.

In much of China's history, its women were granted less social currency than men, with their rights ignored and their voices suppressed. However, since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the status of women has undergone tremendous changes. Women have emerged from within the family home, becoming an important force driving social development.

China attaches great importance to protecting women's rights and interests, and has established a comprehensive and continuously improving legal framework, including provisions in the Electoral Law of the National People's Congress and Local People's Congresses that call for increasing the percentage of female deputies, the special labor protection provisions for female employees in the Labor Law and the effective protection of women from domestic violence in the Anti-Domestic Violence Law.

Progress in women's empowerment in China is the result of joint efforts of the whole country. However, we must also be aware that women's development still faces many challenges. Although social attitudes are gradually changing, gender discrimination and prejudice still exist. The Chinese Government and all sectors of society will continue to work to address these challenges.

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson

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