| China opens national women's congress | ||||||||
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| 2008-10-29 00:01 | ||||||||
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BEIJING, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Tenth National Women's Congress, which is expected to set up a five year plan for ensuring the rights of Chinese women, began here Tuesday morning. He Guoqiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau and Secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, delivered the opening message on behalf of the CPC Central Committee at the Great Hall of the People.
He said, in the past three decades, Chinese women have played unique roles in socialist construction and made great contributions to social harmony. Exemplifying those traits, He listed several female role models, including police chief Ren Changxia from central Henan Province and navy doctor, Feng Lida. Judge Song Yushu was also mentioned for her work in a Beijing district court. He said Yushu has been integral in handling economic and intellectual property rights cases. Currently, there are nearly 700,000 women working in various circles who have been publicly designated as role models in China, statistics from the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) show. "Numerous women have shown outstanding characteristics in fighting against the heavy snow disasters in southern China, helping rescue victims after the massive earthquake on May 12 in southwestern Sichuan, as well as working hard for the success of the Olympics and Paralympics," He said. Statistics show there were more than 833,000 women's federations in China, with more than 76,000 officials in charge of women affairs. Lu Hao, the first-secretary of the secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, also spoke at the opening ceremony. Lu said federations were bridges between women and the government and an important social backbone of the state. International exchanges such as bilateral and multilateral visits were well under way, with the ACWF having established friendship with 697 women and children groups in 164 countries and regions. President Hu Jintao and other top state leaders Wu Bangguo, JiaQinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang and Zhou Yongkang attended the congress' opening ceremony. Premier Wen Jiabao is in Russia for a visit.
He Guoqiang, member of the Standing Committee of the political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the 10th National Women's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on Oct. 28, 2008. A total of 1,407 delegates from across the country were present at the once-every-five-year congress. Among the 1,280 elected delegates, 1,020 of them are newly elected. Each of China's 55 ethnic minorities has at least one delegate to the congress.(Xinhua Photo) "Currently, women account for 45.4 percent of China's total employed population," said ACWF Deputy-Chairwoman Huang Qingyi, who delivered a work report on behalf of the ninth ACWF Executive Committee. Even with those numbers, many Chinese women do not have the same benefits as their male coworkers. "Sex discrimination in employment should be eradicated and the income gap between men and women should be further narrowed," said Huang. China has about 27,000 women and children's rights watchdogs which investigate rights infringement. He Guoqiang said China's legal system for protecting women's and children's rights needing improvements. In terms of politics, Huang said Chinese women are playing a larger role with females occupying 39 percent of official roles. Of CPC members, 20.4 percent are female. Female deputies comprised 21.33 percent of the National People's Congress (NPC), up 1.09 percentage points from the previous congress five years ago. Women make up 17.7 percent of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), up 1 percent. The proportion of female deputies to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was also up two percent from five years ago, said Huang. "Women have become an important force pushing forward political development". However, she said, more needs to be done. Women should exercise their democratic rights and their ability to participate in national and grassroots public affairs as well as social affairs. Huang also stressed that more opportunities and resources should be allocated to women to enhance their education and improve their health and living standards. For example, China's maternal mortality rate has fallen to 36.6deaths per 100,000 births. That's down from 51.3 per 100,000 in 2003. The infant mortality rate has dropped to 15.3 per 1,000 from 25.5 per 1,000 in 2003. Huang attributes the statistics to improved health-care for women and children but said more needs tobe done. DEVELOPMENT GOALS The five-day congress will hear and discuss a work report by the Ninth ACWF's Executive Committee, deliberate and adopt amendments to the federation's constitution and elect the 10th Executive Committee. The goal of the congress is to outline plans to further boost women's involvement in social and economic development and their participation in state affairs, It also wants to ensure that legitimate rights and interests of women are fully protected, the national policy on equal status between men and women- fully implemented and the environment for female development- significantly optimized.
ACWF Chairwoman Gu Xiulian said 1,407 delegates from across the country were present at the congress which is held every five years. Among the 1,280 elected delegates, 1,020 of them were newly elected. Each of China's 55 ethnic minorities had at least one delegate to the congress. Officials in charge of women affairs from Beijing and other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, ACWF former leaders and representatives from Hong Kong and Macao, also attended the congress. Source: Xinhua |
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