International Women's Day: China’s outstanding women reach new heights in various fields

International Women's Day has arrived once again. Let’s take a moment to reflect on some of the most outstanding women engaged in various fields in China today.

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Tu Youyou of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, and winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize for her discovery of artemisinin, is the first Chinese woman national to win a Nobel prize in science. Since 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) has held up artemisinin-based drugs as the first choice for anti-malarial drug regimens. Related treatment modalities have since saved the lives of millions of people across the world.

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Zhang Guimei is the recipient of the July 1 Medal, the highest honor in the Communist Party of China (CPC). She is the Party chief and the principal of the Huaping Senior High School for Girls in Lijiang, southwest China's Yunnan Province. Over the past decade or so, she has personally travelled some 110,000 kilometers to engage in family visits. Thanks to her efforts, nearly 2,000 rural girls have enrolled in her school, forever changing their destiny through the power of education.

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As a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), Wang Yaping, one of the Shenzhou-13 astronauts, was China’s first female astronaut to conduct extravehicular activities and the country’s first astronaut to deliver a lecture in space. She exited the Tianhe core module of China's space station on Nov. 7, 2021, before safely returning.

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Burumaham Maoleduo from Wuqia county, Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture, in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, was awarded the titles of People's Role Model and March 8th Red-Banner Individual Holder. For over 50 years, she has conducted patrols along China’s border in the region, which rises to an average altitude of 4,000 meters, making a contribution to guarding the country’s territory.

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Yang Yang, member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), also happens to be China's first-ever Winter Olympic gold medalist. She won the women's 500-meter short track speed skating gold medal and women's 1,000-meter short track speed skating gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002. Yang Yang, who now serves as the chair of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (BOCOG) Athletes' Commission, has witnessed and promoted the development of China’s winter sports industry over the course of many years.

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The Chinese women's football team, after rallying back from a two-goal lead for their opponents, beat the South Koreans 3-2 in the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup final on Feb. 6, 2022. It was the national team’s first Asian Cup trophy in 16 years.

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Chen Xinru, a hero on the national security front, was the only representative who did not show her face at a commendation meeting for role models in political and legal affairs on Nov. 26, 2021, given the confidentiality of her work. She has been fighting against enemies to safeguard the security of the country.

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He Lisheng, a researcher at the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is the first female Chinese scientist to have descended 10,000 meters below sea level. Her research on deep-sea macro-organisms has helped to fill a gap in China's research into the molecular mechanisms of deep-sea creatures.

(Photo/Kong Kangyi)

Four young soldiers, namely He Zhaohong, Xu Xiaolu, Kong Qing and Dai Zhengqin, became members of the 20th Chinese peacekeeping force to Lebanon after several rounds of selections and evaluations, devoting themselves to mine-clearing operations in the country. As representatives of China’s female peacekeeper corps, they have remained committed to eliminating the danger posed by minefields and bringing the hope of a peaceful life to local residents.

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Lu Shengmei, former vice president of a county-level hospital in Jiaxian county, Yulin city, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, has devoted over 53 years of her life practicing medicine at the grassroots level. She turned down a good offer from a hospital after she retired, and instead continued to perform free medical treatments in the county. After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, she volunteered to work on the frontline and donated 10,000 yuan (about $1,585) in special CPC membership dues to be used for epidemic control. Her dedication has been hailed by the people in her locality.

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Wei Shihui, a researcher at a research institute of the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force, has been working on the development of ballistic missiles. At the age of 33, she resolved a key conundrum in the precision guidance of missiles that had plagued China for 50 years. With 26 invention patents already under her belt, the woman has spent most of her life engaged in the research and development of missile technology.

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Song Yin is a captain of the Donghai (East China Sea) First Flying Rescue Team of the Ministry of Transport and a member of the first batch of female rescue helicopter pilots in China. She has performed 273 tasks, maintained 3,115 hours of safe flight operations and rescued 218 people in distress over the past decade or so.

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Sonam Tsomo from Changdu, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region is a selfless policewoman dedicated to serving the people. She always helps the people living in her community, and often buys food and medicine for those facing difficult circumstances without asking for anything in return.

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Guo Yujie, born in 2004, is a para cross-country and para biathlon skier with left upper-limb disabilities. She was selected as one of the Chinese delegation's flag bearers at the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games. She captured the para biathlon women's sprint standing gold on March 5, 2022, calling it the best present she could ask for her eighteenth birthday. She made it into China’s national team before she turned 12 years old, and had won many gold and silver medals in competitions both at home and abroad before her participation at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.