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Chinese Women's Progress and Development
On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Fourth World Women Congress held in Beijing in 1995, the People's Daily today publishes a report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Following are excerpts of the report.
In 1995, the Chinese government promulgated the "Chinese Women's Development Program (1995-2000)", the first government plan for women development. The Program lays down explicit stipulations on the general goal as well as 11 auxiliary objectives for the development of Chinese women. It is a programmatic document on guiding the development of Chinese women at the present stage. Along with the policy on the equality between men and women and other basic national policies that have taken root in people's hearts, the implementation of the Women Program has given a great impetus to the progress and development of the Chinese women, the overall quality of women has gained marked improvement, the degree of women's participation in political, economic and social activities has been gradually raised. Women of today have become an important force in China's economic construction and social development. The progress and development of Chinese women are manifested mainly in the following:
Steady increase in opportunities for women to receive education. The proportion of females in regular educational institutions at all levels has risen, the degree of their receiving education has been gradually enhanced, and the difference between men and women in terms of education has further narrowed. In 1988, the proportion of females in ordinary higher education, secondary and junior middle school education increased by 2.9, 1.3 and 0.9 percentage points respectively over the 1995 figures. The difference in the attendance rates of boys and girls was only 0.1 percentage point. In 1998, the number of years when women received education averaged 6.5 years, with the difference between men and women adults in educational years dropped from 1.7 years in 1995 to 1.5 years in 1998.
Marked rise in the degree of women's participation in the management of State and social affairs. The proportion of females being deputies to the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC) and members of the Ninth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) respectively rose by 1 and 2 percentage points over those with the Eighth NPC and the Eighth CPPCC; there was a marked increase in the number of women holding high-level leading posts in various localities. In 1998, the number of women cadres nationwide exceeded 14 million, up by 11 percent over the 1995 figure. There was also a marked increase in the proportion of women being CPC members and members of the eight major democratic parties. In 1998, the number of women members of the CPC surpassed 10 million for the first time, up 15.5 percent over that in 1995; the proportion of female members of the eight major democratic parties reached 45 percent at the highest.
Constant expansion in the scale of women employment and rational distribution of trade. The steady growth of China's national economy has created favorable conditions for the employment of women. In 1998, China had around 700 million employees, of whom about 320 million, or 46.7 percent, were women, a 1 percentage point over that of 1995. Viewed from the distribution of workers' jobs, women's jobs have shifted from traditional industries to the tertiary sector. The proportion of women working in agriculture, mining and manufacturing industries has taken a downward trend, while in culture, education, public health, finance, insurance, communications and transportation and post and telecommunication services, in State organs, mass organizations and other trades, the proportion of females is on the increase, especially in education, culture, art, broadcasting and television fields, the proportion increased by 2.7 percentage points.
Marked improvement in women's health condition, and a rise in their average life expectancy. In 1998, China's female average life span reached 73.1 years, 0.5 year higher than that in 1995, and about 3.7 years higher than men's.
A strong guarantee for the basic life of poor women. Among the poverty-stricken population, half are women. Poverty relief is of greater significance for poor women. In 1994, The State began to implement the plan for helping 80 million rural poor people out of poverty in seven years. Over the past few years, the State has intensified efforts to solve the poverty problem existing among the rural population through various methods, such as organizing labor export, counterpart assistance to the poor and extending small loans. In 1999, China's rural poor population decreased to 34 million, helping a total of about 46 million people out of poverty.
Notable progress has been made in the development of Chinese women over the past few years. But we should also be soberly aware that discrimination against women still exists in society, legal stipulations on equality of men with women have not been fully carried out. Given this situation, we should adopt active measures to further improve the external environment and mechanisms for women's development and improve the overall quality of Chinese women, thereby laying a solid foundation for the further development of Chinese women in the 21st century.
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