China has made unprecedented progress in promoting women's well-rounded development and has become an active practitioner and contributor to advancing women's development worldwide, said Huang Xiaowei, vice president of the All-China Women's Federation.
Huang, also deputy director of the Working Committee for Women and Children under the State Council, made the remarks in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) ahead of the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women scheduled to take place in Beijing from Monday to Tuesday.
She said China has built a collaborative working structure to promote women's all-rounded development.
"On Sept 19, China released a white paper titled 'China's Achievements in Women's Well-Rounded Development in the New Era,' which gives a systematic overview of China's accomplishments in promoting women's development and protecting their rights and interests. I'd like to summarize these achievements as 'unprecedented' in four aspects. First, the level of attention and support from the Party and the state to women's development is unprecedented. The Party's Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core has incorporated women's development into the broader framework of Chinese modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping has personally projected and pushed for the work, making a series of important statements on women, children, and the role of women's federations, which have become an integral part of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. The Party's 18th, 19th and 20th National Congresses all emphasized the importance of upholding the basic state policy of equality between men and women and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of women and children. China has established a legal framework consisting of over 100 laws and decrees to guarantee women's rights and interests, forming a collaborative working structure where Party committees take the leadership, governments take the major responsibility, working committees on women and children coordinate the women's federations to work with all departments and involve the whole society to the cause. Our institutional advantages have continuously translated into tangible progress for women's development," she said.
"Second, women's sense of fulfillment, happiness and security is unprecedented. In poverty alleviation, more than 690 million women have reached moderate prosperity, alongside the nation, achieving the poverty eradication goal of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule. In health, women's average life expectancy has risen to 80.9 years, while maternal mortality has dropped by 41.6 percent from 2012. China has been ranked by the WHO as one of the top 10 high-performing countries in this regard. In education, the gender gap in basic education has been virtually eliminated with net enrollment rates for both girls and boys in primary schools exceeding 99.9 percent. In social security, women now account for over 48 percent of total insured individuals and medical and pension insurance systems have achieved full coverage. Women are now sharing the benefits of modernization equally," she said.
"Third, women's role as 'half the sky' has fully embodied in various fields on an unprecedented scale. In high-quality development, women make up 43 percent of the workforce. They also make up 45.8 percent of scientific and technological professionals, and one-third of those working in emerging sectors such as digital trade and e-commerce livestreaming. In political participation, the proportion of female deputies to the 14th National People's Congress and female members of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference has reached historic highs. In social governance, there are now 431,000 women's councils and more than 24 million female volunteers. They actively work in urban and rural communities and have become indispensable forces in grassroots governance," she said.
"Fourth, China's involvement in global governance on women's issues is unprecedented. China remains steadfast in fulfilling its international commitments and co-hosted the Global Women's Summit and jointly established the UNESCO Prize for Girls' and Women's Education with the UN. We have implemented women's empowerment projects worth over 40 million U.S. dollars in more than 20 countries and trained over 200,000 female professionals from more than 180 countries and regions. Programs like 'Spring Bud Project' and 'Genius Mom Friendship Workshop' have been shared globally. We have also partnered with developing countries to establish women's training centers and child-friendly spaces to empower local women and children, and dispatched more than 1,200 female peacekeepers to participate in the UN peacekeeping missions," she said. "These 'four unprecedented' aspects demonstrate that despite challenges to global gender equality, women's development in China is thriving and fruitful, and has gained widespread recognition and acclamation from the international community. China is regarded as a leader in the global pursuit of gender equality. This fully illustrates that China is not only an advocate for equality between men and women and women's all-round development, but also an active practitioner and contributor to advancing women's development worldwide. We have successfully delivered our commitments," she said.
Official on China's progress in advancing women's development
