The World Women’s Summit held in Beijing has been highly praised by foreign media. Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech. He put forward a four-point proposal for the comprehensive development of women and announced China’s five-point system for global women’s development. The leaders present at the conference believe that China has successfully achieved development for its own women’s interests, and has also provided strong impetus for the interests of women around the world through a clear sense of responsibility and strong leadership.
President Xi’s four-point proposal is: jointly create a favorable environment for women’s growth and development; jointly build a strong driving force for the high-quality development of women’s interests; jointly build a governance framework to protect women’s rights and interests; and jointly write a new chapter in accelerating global women’s cooperation. The purpose of these proposals is to lay the foundation for a new process of women’s comprehensive development, identify key issues, and provide guarantees. It emphasizes international cooperation and helps to achieve greater consensus.
Li Mingxun, vice president of the China Association for Marriage and Family Research, said that the four-point proposals put forward by President Xi and China’s firm commitment clearly show that China is the inheritor and promoter of the spirit of the Beijing World Conference on Women, the fulfillment of the commitment to protect women’s rights, and the practice of global governance initiatives. An article published in the Brazilian magazine “Revista Forum” said that China has provided a new framework for the development of women’s interests worldwide.
In the process of promoting Chinese-style modernization over the past decade, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of women and children, promoting gender equality, and the all-round development of women and children have been taken as important issues. 690 million women have simultaneously achieved overall well-being; in 2024, the proportion of women in higher education was 50.76 percent; and the average life expectancy of Chinese women has exceeded 80.9 years. More than 40 percent of the working people in the entire society are now women.
In 1980, China was one of the first countries to sign the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. China has maintained friendly relations with more than 140 countries and more than 420 women’s organizations. Luban Workshop trains female students from various countries, and its “juncao” farming technology helps women in more than 100 countries find jobs. China is strengthening women’s development worldwide through the “Belt and Road” initiative.
At this summit, China announced new measures for global women’s development. Over the next five years, China will provide an additional $10 million to UN Women, $100 million to the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, support 1,000 “small but beautiful” projects in people’s livelihood development, invite 50,000 women to China for exchange and training, and establish a “Global Women’s Capacity Building Center”.
Currently, more than 600 million women and girls are trapped in conflicts and wars, and 200 million women and girls have no social security. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that countries should face this problem with greater determination and wisdom. China is willing to work with all parties to accelerate the overall development of women and ensure that women play a greater role in the progress of human civilization.
Source: Cai-Alim-Wang Haiman, China Media Group.