# data[].attributes.headline
Women and Health: Reflections on the Beijing+20 Platform for Action

# data[].attributes.subject
Women and Health: Reflections on the Beijing+20 Platform for Action

# data[].attributes.body
This picture illustrates that inequalities between men and women as well as women are barriers to achieving the highest standards of health for women, and only addressing these inequalities can guarantee women an equal right to health and a voice in the life cycle. Although women's medical health guarantees in China have been greatly improved, this includes some rights to treatment and reimbursement of expenses. However, because of some traditional concepts, the phenomenon of harm caused by women in the reproductive process is still widespread. GBV is an area of concern, including some mechanisms to screen for GBV. These are the parts that Chinese government departments focus on promoting women's health. Only when government departments focus on improving women's health will there be more institutions to create an environment to meet women's health needs.

# data[].attributes.body
Gender equality is a fundamental human right. Women have the right to live in dignity, free from poverty and fear. It is also a prerequisite for promoting development and reducing poverty. Empowering women contributes to the health and productivity of entire families and communities and lays the foundation for future economic development. Although China has made some progress in addressing gender inequality, gender-based violence, various forms of harmful practices and discrimination persist.
In China, a strong patriarchal cultural tradition, coupled with the use of modern technology and declining total fertility rates, has led to gender-biased sex selection (GBSS), which in turn has led to persistently skewed sex ratios at birth (SRB). Distorted SRBs have far-reaching effects on a societal and personal level. Gender disproportion, including the golden age of marriage, results in more men than potential female partners in the marriage market, large gender demographic gaps, discrimination and violence against women, and violations of women's right to work.
How to get rid of these discriminatory behaviors and gender inequalities against women requires long-term policy and legal support from government departments. For example, in response to the current domestic violence in Chinese families, the Chinese government has introduced the Anti-Domestic Violence Law of the People's Republic of China as legal support for the majority of women. The "Special Provisions on Labor Protection for Female Employees" clearly requires employers to prevent and stop sexual harassment of female employees. Only by continuously improving women's rights protection mechanisms from the institutional and legal levels can gender inequality in Chinese society be gradually reduced or eliminated.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Toward gender sensitivity women and climate change policies in China Posts by Yibing Yuan

# data[].attributes.headline
The embodiment of Chinese women in Climate Change

# data[].attributes.subject
The embodiment of Chinese women in Climate Change

# data[].attributes.body
This article analyses the role of women in weather change from a gender perspective. It adopts all feasible measures that lay the groundwork for China to integrate gender awareness into climate change policies. The under-representation of women has not led to the complete absence of gender in climate change policies. Many of China's climate protection policies are reflected in women, such as Sustainable Development in China in the Early 21st Century, which is ahead of the importance of disease prevention and health care for women and children to promote development. In China, women are more involved in daily life than men, so women often control household-level tools to combat climate change when dealing with temperature changes and food and water shortages. In general, women of different positions experience climate disasters in different ways in Different Positions, so the way they respond is other. Only a human-centred approach combined with gender will help involve women in the formulation of China's climate change policy and may also drive China's domestic response to climate change and lead the global response to climate change.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Toward gender sensitivity women and climate change policies in China

# data[].attributes.headline
The current situation of women's decision-making power in China

# data[].attributes.subject
The current situation of women's decision-making power in China

# data[].attributes.body
The article describes how women's status improves, but gender inequality persists. The report also details women's progress in economic opportunity and political resources and their challenges. Using both macro and microdata, we can see that Chinese women have become more equal economically and politically, which means that women participate in more job opportunities and earn higher incomes and more prestigious careers. In the more resourceful state of the city, the status of women has improved. But in places where resources are relatively scarce, such as villages, women's resource allocation is still much lower than men's. This means that, with the government's strong support, although the status of women has improved, the improvement needs to be strengthened. The government should encourage businesses to adopt jobs that are more adapted to women's family functions.

# data[].attributes.headline
Period poverty in China and how one group of girls aims to end it–a school at a time

# data[].attributes.subject
Period poverty in China and how one group of girls aims to end it–a school at a time

# data[].attributes.body
Sanitary napkin poverty still affects most parts of the world. Taking China as an example, the value-added tax rate of sanitary napkins in China is 13%, while the value-added tax rate of pet food is 9%, which means that Chinese women will pay an additional 4% tax rate for each sanitary napkin purchased, which is equivalent to a disguised "pink tax".
To improve women's menstrual poverty and low economic status of women, such as the "pink tax", requires government departments and charitable organizations to jointly carry out poverty alleviation campaigns and policy support. Take Canada and Australia as an example. Canada and Australia have achieved complete tax exemption for sanitary pads, and most countries are reducing the tax rate on sanitary pads.
This article was chosen as the focus because Menstrual poverty for the average menstruating woman exemplifies a problem: the "pink tax" and excess spending by women relative to men. Women in less developed regions spend an average of 120 yuan more per year on a fixed basis (even when using cheap sanitary pads). However, the average price of electronic razors for men is only 30-60 yuan, and they can be used for a long time. This shows that there are still bottlenecks in the economic development of developing countries led by China, and the tax and fee problem is serious, and it is necessary to reduce taxes and fees to solve the "pink tax" and women's consumption equality.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Period poverty in China and how one group of girls aims to end it

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A 17-year-old high school student and her friends in Chengdu are raising money to ensure that hundreds of girls in an impoverished community have access to sanitary products.

# data[].attributes.headline
Online platforms discuss gender equality in China

# data[].attributes.subject
Online platforms discuss gender equality in China

# data[].attributes.body
The video illustrates that the issue of gender equality has been widely mainstreamed into policy-making in China, that the legal and policy system to protect women's rights and interests has been further improved, that new initiatives to promote gender equality have been introduced in various regions, that "her power" continues to show new achievements in various sectors, and that new progress and achievements in the cause of women and children are evident to all. At the same time, the video also shows that the issue of violence against women still requires constant attention, and that gender stereotypes that discriminate against women continue to be perpetuated in new media platforms. This video is a good illustration of China's relentless efforts to improve gender equality in society in the new multimedia environment.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Rachel Zheng discusses gender equality in China

# data[].attributes.headline
Do Women in China Face Greater Inequality than Women Elsewhere?

# data[].attributes.subject
Do Women in China Face Greater Inequality than Women Elsewhere?

# data[].attributes.body
This link provides strong data and text to show that the status of women in China is improving, and that this progress has been driven by Chinese social policies. The data also shows that although gender equality in China has improved in the context of modernisation, it still lags behind some developed countries in terms of ranking. This link was chosen not only because it provides a visual representation of the efforts made by China's social policies to promote gender equality, but also because it allows a comparison to be made with other countries in order to identify the specific areas where the gaps lie.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Rapid modernization has enabled China to provide its citizens with improved living standards and increased economic opportunities. Yet this process has yielded uneven gains between men and women. Pronounced wage gaps and imbalanced political representation are just two of the many issues hindering gender equality in China. Working to address these inadequacies is essential for China as it continues its socio-economic development.

China's constitution guarantees women "equal rights with men in all spheres of life," and over the last several decades, women in China have enjoyed some notable gains. Life expectancy and literacy rates, for instance, have risen as China's economy has developed. This progress, however, has been outpaced by the rest of the world. China's ranking in the index fell sharply from 63 rd out of 115 countries in 2006 to 103 rd out of 149 countries in 2018.

Chinese Women's Health Prospects

Access to healthcare and positive health outcomes are key measures of gender equality. Similar to other developing countries, as China has grown richer its citizens have enjoyed a higher life expectancy. Chinese women born in 2016 can expect to live 77.8 years, an increase of 4.2 years from 2000 and 9.5 years from 1980. While female life expectancy in China has surpassed the global average since 1970, it still falls short of high-income neighbors like Japan (87.1 years) and South Korea (85.2 years).

Improvements in health outcomes have primarily been driven by government initiatives. Soon after taking power in 1949, the Communist Party created a state-driven health service that was offered at little to no cost for its citizens. These services were transformed into a market-based healthcare system in the 1980s. In 2009, President Hu Jintao initiated comprehensive healthcare reforms to enable "everyone to enjoy basic healthcare services." This effort has largely succeeded, which is all the more impressive given China's massive population. As of 2012, 95 percent of Chinese citizens receive a modest level of healthcare coverage.

Beijing has also instituted programs specifically designed for women. These include the National Program for Women's Development 2001-2010 and the subsequent National Program for Women's Development 2011-2020 - both of which increased access to preventive screenings, standard reproductive healthcare services, and health and nutritional education. Such measures have delivered tangible gains. A survey issued by the National Bureau of Statistics revealed that in 2013 the number of women undergoing screenings for general diseases rose to 68.7 percent, a 7.5 percentage increase from 2010.

Other health indicators, such as the maternal mortality rate, also reflect positive change. According to the World Bank, China has dramatically lowered its maternal mortality ratio from 97 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990 to only 27 deaths in 2015. This ratio surpasses those found in other large developing economies like Brazil (44:100,000) and India (174:100,000). OECD countries average 14 deaths per 100,000 live births, with Finland's ratio of 3:100,000 leading the way.

China's sex ratio at birth is the most imbalanced in the world, with only 87 girls born per 100 boys.

China has also taken strides to improve postnatal care. A law introduced by the State Council in 2012 increased paid maternity leave to 14 weeks, and in some provinces, an entire year. I n 2016, China further maternity leave by an additional one to three months (depending on province). The length of maternity leave in China is now comparable to the paid leave offered by many wealthy European countries, and it is a significant improvement over the US, which has no federally mandated leave.

While China has achieved a higher life expectancy and better health outcomes for women, it still suffers from an imbalanced sex ratio at birth. The lingering effects of the One-Child Policy and the longstanding cultural "son bias" have contributed to a female-to-male ratio of 87:100 at birth, ranking China last out of 149 countries surveyed by the WEF.

The sex ratio at birth is even more pronounced in rural areas. China's 2010 census revealed that in Anhui, for instance, the ratio was less than 80 females to 100 males. However, this ratio may not fully capture China's sex ratio, as some women who were hidden from authorities at birth have been added to official records as they age and require social services, healthcare, and education.

China now faces the challenge of a rising population of young unmarried men. The number of single men is expected to grow to 30 million in 2020. This imbalance has been associated with negative socio-economic consequences, including a declining labor force and an increase in human trafficking. Over time, however, China's sex ratio is expected to level out. According to the United Nations, China's sex ratio is projected to reach 106 males per 100 females by 2050.

Chinese Women's Access to Education

Across the globe, women face significant educational disadvantages. Women often receive less schooling than men, which limits their economic prospects and has been linked with higher rates of early pregnancy.

China has made a concerted effort to boost access to education for its entire population. The 1986 Nine-Year Compulsory Education Law and the 1995 Education Law of the People's Republic of China established equal access to enrollment, degrees, and study abroad programs. These measures have contributed to a rise in the literacy rate of women from 86.5 percent in 2000 to 92.7 percent in 2017. While noteworthy, this still places China in the lower half of global rankings, well behind highly developed economies where literacy is over 99 percent.

Over time, China's compulsory education laws are likely to further improve literacy rates. The mean years of schooling for women in China grew from 4.8 years in 1990 to 7.6 in 2017, and primary school enrollment is nearly universal. The vast majority of young Chinese women (95.9 percent) move on to secondary schools. These levels of enrollment are much higher than their respective global averages - 88.3 percent for primary education and 75.9 percent for secondary education.

Since 2008, Chinese women have been more likely than men to continue onto tertiary and postgraduate education. According to the Ministry of Education, women constituted 52.5 percent of undergraduate students in China's colleges and universities in 2017. The WEF ranks China as number 1 in gender balance for tertiary education.

At China's top universities, gender ratios still skew toward men. In 2018, the female-to-male ratio at Peking University was 48 to 52, while the ratio at Tsinghua University was lower at 34 to 66. In contrast, female students are more likely to study abroad than their male peers. In 2014, women accounted for 51 percent of Chinese students studying in the US and 63 percent of those in the UK.

China's urban-rural disparities further affect equal access to education. A 2016 report by the China Social Welfare Foundation found that while 96.1 percent of rural girls had enrolled in primary education, only 79.3 percent moved on to secondary levels. Some note that this drop is due to lower parental expectations and fewer employment opportunities for rural women.

Beijing is working to reduce the gap between rural and urban girls. In Sichuan province, for instance, efforts to elevate the quality of education include providing libraries, multimedia classrooms, and improved school infrastructure to rural elementary schools. Multimedia classrooms have also been utilized in the Ningxia and Gansu provinces, where schools have introduced livestreamed lessons to allow resource-sharing between urban and rural students.

Economic Opportunities for Women in China

China's economic growth has improved overall prosperity, but Chinese women have benefited less from these gains. Throughout the 1980s, female participation in the labor force was high, averaging around 80 percent. By 2018, however, female workforce participation had dropped to 68.6 percent, only slightly higher than the US (66.1 percent) and roughly equal to Japan (68.7 percent). This decreasing trend runs contrary to other major developing countries, like Brazil and South Africa, which witnessed increased female participation over the same period.

According to Human Rights Watch, 19 percent of the Chinese national civic service jobs posted in 2018 included requirements such as "men only," "men preferred," or "suitable for men."

The reasons for this sharp decline are multifaceted, but China's changing social structure and economic modernization are commonly cited as primary factors. For instance, the restructuring of China's state-owned enterprises in the 1990s had particularly negative consequences for women. Although aimed at boosting productivity and efficiency, the privatization process precipitated layoffs of low-skilled, and often female, workers.

China's development has also disproportionately benefited men. The income gap between urban male and female workers increased from 15 percent in 1990 to 25 percent in 2000. This disparity has persisted over the last two decades. A 2018 poll reported that Chinese women on average earn 22 percent less than their male coworkers.

Given these factors, the WEF unsurprisingly ranks China 74 th globally in wage equality, behind the US at 8 th and the UK at 64 th. South Korea, which has a GNI per capita more than twice that of China, is riddled with even greater wage inequality than China. Ranked in the bottom fifth globally in terms of wage equality, South Korean women earned a shocking $26,725 per capita less than men in 2017. In the same year, Chinese women suffered a wage discrepancy of roughly $6,000.

Learn More "Is China Ready for Intelligent Automation?"

Other factors are also at work. Around 50 percen t of Chinese women work in secretarial, sales, and accounting positions, which typically pay less than the sales, technology, and manufacturing positions that employ 58 percent of Chinese men. The coming wave of intelligent automation may further divide the labor force. The reported in late 2018 that there is a considerable risk that growing demand for AI skills could "perpetuate - and even widen - the sort of gender and equity gaps that often impact the technology sector."

The noticeable lack of women in managerial positions further exacerbates this issue. According to the WEF, only 17 percent of senior managers, officials, and legislators in China are women. These factors are not unique to China, as only 29 percent of managerial positions in Germany are held by women. In Japan, it is a meager 13 percent.

Gender Inequality in China: A Conversation with Leta Hong Fincher

Additional roadblocks perpetuate these inequalities. For instance, the official retirement age for Chinese women is at least five years earlier than men, which reduces their potential earnings. Discrimination extends to the hiring process as well. According to Human Rights Watch, 19 percent of the Chinese national civic service jobs posted in 2018 included requirements such as "men only," "men preferred," or "suitable for men."

Entrepreneurship stands as one area where Chinese women take a leading role. A 2017 WEF report noted that women set up 55 percent of new internet companies in China, and more than a quarter of all the entrepreneurs in the country were women. The 2018 Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs also ranks China out of more than 60 countries surveyed, just behind countries like Germany (23 rd) and France (24 th).

Women's Political Participation in China

Women continue to face barriers in terms of political empowerment around the world. According to the World Bank, only 23.9 percent of parliamentary seats are held by women globally. Women in China face comparably low levels of representation. The WEF ranks China 78 th in terms of the political involvement of women, below similarly populous India (19 th), but ahead of the US (98 th). Iceland, with 38.1 percent of seats in its parliament occupied by women, ranks first globally.

Since 1949, China has had only six female members on the 25-member Politburo.

While the government officially supports gender equality, large disparities in political representation remain. In 2017, female membership in the CCP was roughly one quarter of total party membership. Similarly, only 24.9 percent of representatives in the 13 th session of the National People's Congress hosted in 2018 were women. No woman has ever sat on China's Politburo Standing Committee, nor has any woman ever held the presidency. Since 1949, China has had only six female members on the 25-member Politburo.

Beijing has introduced some measures to encourage greater political participation among women. With assistance from the United Nations, the All-China Women's Federation supported training programs on leadership and political participation for rural women from 2011 to 2015.

Such efforts may fall short in facilitating women's political participation. China's 2018 ranking in the WEF's Global Gender Gap report has fallen 26 places since 2006, placing it at 78 th out of 149 countries. Three of the G-7 countries - the US, Japan, and Germany - witnessed a similar decline. In contrast, some countries rose in the rankings, such as Chile, which jumped from 56 th place in 2006 to 31 st in 2018.

Chinese women have become more active in asserting their rights through protest, but outlets for activism are increasingly difficult to find. China's recent participation in the 'Me Too' movement, in which Chinese women campaigned against sexual abuses and exploitation in universities and workplaces, was met with swift censorship. The movement's hashtag on China's popular microblogging website, Weibo, was removed by censors shortly after it gained traction online.

Previous instances of activism also faced pushback from the government. The Feminist Five, a group of five Chinese women famous for their social activism, were arrested in 2015 over plans to protest sexual harassment in subways. They are still labeled " criminal suspects" despite their release from prison.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Do Women in China Face Greater Inequality than Women Elsewhere? | ChinaPower Project

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Rapid modernization has enabled China to provide its citizens with improved living standards and increased economic opportunities. Yet this process has yielded uneven gains between men and women. Working to address these inadequacies is essential for China as it continues its socio-economic development.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Legal protection against gender discrimination in the workplace in China. Posts by Yumou Wei

# data[].attributes.headline
China's legal guarantees for women's development

# data[].attributes.subject
China's legal guarantees for women's development

# data[].attributes.body
This article investigates how gender stereotypes prevalent among Chinese men and women have a systematic negative influence on women in the workplace. It can make people aware of some of the direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, protective discrimination and occupational gender segregation that exists against working women in China. Now, China has passed a series of legislation based on the constitutional concept of gender equality to reduce the hurdles that women encounter in effectively participating in the labour market. There are also a number of separate national laws and regulations, as well as local regulations and administrative norms. The evolution of these pieces of legislation reflects the many obstacles that women have encountered in the workplace in various eras, and the progressiveness and efficacy of laws should be evaluated in the context in which they are employed.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Legal protection against gender discrimination in the workplace in China

# data[].attributes.headline
China's International Exchanges and Cooperation in Gender Equality and Women's Development

# data[].attributes.subject
China's International Exchanges and Cooperation in Gender Equality and Women's Development

# data[].attributes.body
The photo shows China that attaches to international exchanges and cooperation in the field of women. The conference's subject, "Accelerating Gender Equality and Empowerment of All Women and Girls," commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration in 2020. The meaning of the Beijing Declaration demonstrates the Chinese women's cause has achieved a historic leap in leading the development of women worldwide, contributing Chinese plans and strength to the women's movement across the world. It calls for the full emancipation of women in economic, political, civil, health, and interpersonal realms. The anniversary is a wake-up call when the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating pre-existing inequalities. Although much work remains to be done in delivering on the promise of the Beijing Declaration, which remains a global framework and a powerful source of mobilisation, civil society activism, guidance and inspiration.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women

# data[].attributes.headline
Zhang Guimei – woman fighting for girls' education in China

# data[].attributes.subject
Zhang Guimei – woman fighting for girls' education in China

# data[].attributes.body
This video shows that there are still people fighting for women's educational rights. Despite the popularization of nine-year compulsory education in China and more and more policies to improve basic education, there are still women who cannot receive education in impoverished areas. Zhang Guimei came to the depths of the mountain to open a free high school for local women. She firmly believes that a girl's education can change three generations. The video is a good example of Zhang's efforts to improve women's education in China, so that more girls can change their destiny.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Zhang Guimei, Recipient of July 1 Medal, Tells Her Initial Belief on Girl's Education