Even though women's rights have improved greatly compared with the past, many female entrepreneurs in today's China still find themselves at a disadvantage. For example, they feel they cannot go drinking with male clients and thus lose business opportunities. Furthermore, they find they are still being discriminated against in the workplace. Some NGOs are trying to help women solve these problems however.

He Xia had long wanted to start her own business. She had wanted it when the TV station she worked for started failing. She had wanted it when she felt that she had gained enough knowledge to run her own business.

But what made her take the leap into self-employment was getting fired.

"I had to take my son to work on a Sunday because there was nobody to watch him," she said. "My boss found out and said 'If you want to take care of your kid, then don't work here anymore.'"

But she had no choice. Her husband happened to be out of town on a business trip and the couple's parents didn't live nearby. In the end, she had no choice but to leave her job.

She quickly found out that being her own boss was an uphill struggle, especially for a woman living in China. Prejudices and discrimination against women in the workplace are still all-too common.

In the face of difficulties

When He started working as an agent introducing migrant workers to employers in 2005, her knowledge of entrepreneurship was still lacking. She simply thought she could just rent a room and start doing business. She hadn't even estimated the running costs of the enterprise.

But most important of all, she thought that it was impossible for a woman to have a family life and a business at the same time.

A couple years into running the business, He ran into some problems with staff and further expansion so she asked her husband to take control of the business as she didn't believe in her ability to find solutions. This led to them having arguments about how the company should be run and what direction it should move in.

By 2010, she was seriously thinking of divorce. At the time her business had expanded from a two-person team to over 20 employees, but she was still uncertain about the future of her company.

Concerns such as He's are common among Chinese women in the workplace. Even though Chinese women have more opportunities to enter the world of work compared with only a few years ago, many still face challenges.

People have different expectations of men and women, said Allison Ye, co-founder of Lean in Beijing, a female empowerment organization inspired by Sheryl Sandberg's book on female workers.

If a woman has a child, her boss might think she needs to spend more time with her family and won't give her important tasks anymore, she said.

Some gender-based discrimination is more explicit.

"In China's recruitment advertisements, you can still see some companies clearly state that they want 'men only,' or only 'young women.' This would be unimaginable in European countries or in the US, where there's a focus on political correctness," she said. "But in China, most people don't even think it's an issue."

In September, 2014, one of the first lawsuits regarding gender discrimination during the recruitment process took place in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. The plaintiff, Huang Rong (pseudonym), had applied for a job at a chef training school but was told the school "only recruits men" and was not offered an interview despite her qualifications.

Enraged, she sued the school and the courts ended up ruling in her favor.

But there are many more women that have remained silent in the face of discrimination, fearful of speaking out.

According to China's 2010 census, women make up 44.7 percent of the workforce, but just 25.1 percent of people that hold important positions.

Those who do sometimes are faced with workplace discrimination as well.

Ella Bao, the co-founder and CMO of Lagou.com, a recruitment website, said in one of her previous jobs, she heard a male business partner openly state that he didn't want women to occupy high positions in the company, because it "won't be stable for the company's future development."

When Bao felt offended and asked him why, the partner said when women get married and have children, their focus will shift and they won't be able to work long hours at the company.

Such notions exist sometimes in the minds of women themselves as well. But Bao said she's seen some gradual changes in the situation with many programs now available to help women.

Lending a helping hand

In 2010, He started to attend a class at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University that focused on business management. This was a major turning point in her life.

The class is offered through a partnership between Tsinghua and Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Women Initiative, to provide training to the female owners of small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Chinese program started in 2008, and it provides assistance to underserved women who lack technological support or knowledge of entrepreneurship, said Wenchi Yu, regional head of Goldman Sachs Corporate.

She said that the program specifically focuses on underserved women with innovative ideas.

"We focus on women who lack resources, such as education and funds. Women who's companies have met difficulties in developing, those who can find no ways around their problems. But we also assess whether or not she has some potential, if her project will work commercially, it's just that she's underserved and doesn't know how to solve such issues," She said.

He said during the class, she learned how to handle coexisting enterprises. Before attending the classes, she had registered a school to give training to domestic workers, but she didn't know whether she should go for it, or focus on her migrant worker business.

Furthermore, she found it helpful to talk to her classmates, who are mostly in the same situation as her. She told her classmates about her conflicts with her husband and her classmates asked, "He Xia, what do you think you want the most?"

After graduating, He took the business back into her own hands. Instead of having arguments with her husband about his decisions, she started making her own. In turn, they also started sharing household chores and childcare responsibilities that had previously been mainly taken care of by He.

Lean In Beijing tries to provide guidance and support to young women through its mentorship programs. The group invites experienced professional women to give talks and lead discussions with female college students.

Bao was invited for a talk at one of Lean In's mentorship program gatherings. At the meeting, many students had concerns about whether women can be as successful as men in the workplace, especially in fields that are traditionally male-dominated.

A student said to Bao that she's a coder, but she doesn't think she can compete with men, because she believed that women have physical disadvantages, such as not being able to work long hours.

Bao responded that they shouldn't have a preconceived notion of what women can do, or think that women have physical weaknesses. This might have negative effects on their working potential, she said.

Finding solutions

On March 1st, a college student sent a letter to nearly 100 people's representatives, suggesting that laws should be introduced to ensure the right of women to access equal work opportunities. As of press time, she has received replies from just six representatives saying they will take the matter seriously.

While it might take a long time for China's work environments to change, women are starting to realize that something must be done and are changing workplaces themselves.

He has her own way of coping with the issue. At first, when she was marketing her company, she found that not feeling able to drink late into the night with her clients was a disadvantage for her.

"The culture is a male-dominated one. As a woman you cannot possibly drink like the men, and I don't want to get drunk and go home to face my children," she said. "Sometimes they would sing karaoke, drink and socialize, but it's disgraceful for a woman to do such things."

She made a rule that she won't drink and go to seedy entertainment places with her male clients. Instead, she used the time to read. In the future, when she needed to connect with clients, she talked to them over dinner or tea, instead of drinks and karaoke.

She found that gradually, she gained the reputation of being someone of high class, who could lead pleasant conversations, which also helped her career.

Cao Caimei, who graduated from the 10,000 Women program in Yunnan University in 2012, runs a business that produces ethnic embroidery. She also never goes drinking with male business partners.

"I've never done such thing, I've always thought that in order to do sales well, I'll have to do my products well. Let others trust you and your clients will recommend you to others," she said. "It's not about how strong your socializing ability is."

Bao believes having confidence and not believing in society's preexisting notions about women is the first step towards fighting workplace sexism.

She had asked a woman in a high position at an Internet company, what do you do when the men go drinking or playing sports after work, and you can't be part of it?

The woman answered that they are hanging out to create business cooperation opportunities. But if you are outstanding enough, they would come to you first. If you go dancing or do yoga instead of sports, they'd join you as well, she said.

"Her confidence had a strong influence on me," Bao said. "I hope women can be presented as outstanding and professional in the workplace, so that there won't be such prejudices."