The State Council
Information Office published on Wednesday, August 24, a white paper
entitled Gender Equality and Women's Development in China. The nine-chapter
document discusses the progress China has made in promoting gender equality and
women's development over the last decade. The full text of the white paper
follows:
Gender Equality and Women's Development in
China
Foreword
I. State Mechanism to Promote Gender Equality and Development of
Women
II. Women and the Economy
III. Women and Poverty Elimination
IV.
Women's Participation in Decision Making and Management
V. Women and
Education
VI. Women and Health
VII. Women, Marriage and the
Family
VIII. Women and the Environment
IX. Legal Guarantees of Women's
Rights and Interests
Conclusion
Foreword
China is a developing country with the largest population in the world. Of
its total population of 1.3 billion, women account for about half. Therefore,
the promotion of gender equality and the overall development of women is not
only of great significance for China's development, it also has a special
influence on the efforts for the advancement of mankind.
It has always been a basic state policy of China to promote equality between
men and women. Since New China was founded in 1949, especially since the
adoption of the reform and opening-up policy in the late 1970s, and along with
the continuous growth of China's economy and the overall progress of its
society, women are being given more guarantees of enjoyment of equal rights and
opportunities with men and the development of women is being given unprecedented
opportunities.
In recent years, the Chinese government has made fairness and justice, with
gender equality included, an important part of efforts to build a harmonious
socialist society, and has utilized economic, legal, administrative, public
opinion and other measures to ensure that women enjoy equal rights with men in
terms of politics, economy, culture, and social and family life, and
continuously pushes forward women's development in an all-round way.
The Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth UN
World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995 have produced great influence
in promoting the progress of gender equality and women's development around the
world. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the conference, this white paper
has been prepared to introduce to the rest of the world China's progress in
promoting gender equality and women's development over the past decade.
I. State Mechanism to Promote Gender Equality and Development of
Women
To promote gender equality and the development of women, China is making
unremitting efforts to improve its legal system to protect the rights and
interests of women, formulate and implement programs regarding women's
development, further improve relevant working organs, increase financial input
and strengthen social awareness.
The state has continuously intensified its efforts in the formulation,
revision and enforcement of relevant laws and regulations to protect the
legitimate rights and interests of women in earnest. As the supreme organ of
state power and the top legislative organ of China, the National People's
Congress and its Standing Committee have taken the protection of women's rights
and interests and the promotion of gender equality as a key assignment, paid
great attention to the formulation of laws concerning women, seriously dealt
with bills related to the protection of women's legitimate rights and interests,
and actively urged and supervised the enforcement and implementation of relevant
laws. The Chinese government and its departments concerned have enforced laws
and formulated and implemented relevant administrative rules and regulations to
guarantee women's rights and interests, and promote gender equality. China now
has built a complete legal system concerning the protection of women's rights
and interests, and promotion of gender equality, based on the Constitution of
the People's Republic of China, and with the Law of the People's Republic of
China on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women as the main body and
various separate laws and regulations, local regulations and administrative
rules adopted by various government departments as supplementary provisions. The
state judicial organs have augmented their law enforcement steps, and punished
the perpetrators of various kinds of criminal infringements of women's rights
and interests in accordance with the law.
The state has enacted and implemented outlines for the development of women,
and included women's development in the overall plans of economic and social
development. The Outline for the Development of Chinese Women is a national
program of action to carry out the Platform for Action adopted in 1995 in
Beijing and push forward gender equality and women's development in a
comprehensive way. Since the goals set in the Outline for the Development of
Chinese Women (1995-2000) have been basically realized, and to meet the demands
of China's coordinated economic and social development and the requirements of
the UN Millennium Development Goals, China promulgated in 2001 its Outline for
the Development of Chinese Women (2001-2010). The new document outlines 34 major
goals and 100 policies and measures in six fields: women and the economy;
women's participation in decision-making and administration; women and
education; women and health; women and the law; and women and the environment.
The departments concerned under the State Council and local governments at all
levels have all worked out their own programs for the implementation of the
outline and plans for women's development in their respective areas.
