BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- A white paper detailing the progress of women's cause in the 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China noted the increasingly prominent role of women in China's economic and social development.

Entitled "Equality, Development and Sharing: Progress of Women's Cause in 70 Years Since New China's Founding," the official document was released Thursday by China's State Council Information Office.

China has promulgated laws and regulations such as the labor law, the employment promotion law, the labor contract law and the law on contracting rural land to fully protect women's economic rights and interests, especially the right to equal employment, ensuring equal pay to men and women for equal work and eliminating gender discrimination in employment, the white paper said.

“Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, China has attached more importance to gender equality in employment, offering better and more job opportunities for women,” it noted.

Women account for 40 percent of the labor force, the document said, adding that women have made up 55 percent of the population doing business online.

Women's capabilities in contributing to economic and social development have been significantly enhanced over the past 40 years of reform and opening-up, which has been demonstrated in politics, economy, science and technology, education, culture and health, it said.

Tu Youyou, a representative of distinguished women, has made great contributions to the research of Chinese traditional medicine and cross-research of Chinese and Western medicine and she is the first female Chinese scientist to win a Nobel Prize, the white paper noted.