Address to UN event highlights China's commitment to ending bias, envoy says

China's ambassador to the United Nations said President Xi Jinping's speech at a high-level UN summit on Thursday represents a major advance for the spirit of the Fourth World Conference on Women and demonstrates China's dedication to advancing women's rights and bridging gender gaps around the world.

"President Xi Jinping was invited to address the opening ceremony. This fully shows that China, as the host country of the Fourth World Conference on Women, has been playing a unique and important role in the global women's cause," said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, at a news briefing after the summit.

As part of high-level meetings for the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, world leaders convened on Thursday for a virtual meeting to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women.

Many heads of states participated in the conference via prerecorded videos.

Xi addressed the assembly at the opening of the Beijing conference, a meeting seen as a turning point in the global agenda for gender equality.

More than 17,000 participants, including 6,000 government delegates at the negotiations, attended the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in September 1995. The conference resulted in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a global agenda for women's empowerment that targeted 12 areas of concern and was adopted unanimously by 189 countries.

Zhang said that Xi on Thursday pointed out the challenges for gender equality and contributed Chinese wisdom to the global cause of women's development.

"He announced practical measures, focusing on women's well-being and demonstrating a big country's sense of responsibility. The speech represents a major advance for the spirit of the Fourth World Conference on Women," the envoy added.

Noting that the status of women around the world has improved significantly in the 25 years since the Beijing conference, Zhang said that "due to different national conditions, levels of development and cultural traditions", progress in gender equality and women's empowerment around the globe has not been balanced.

Challenges ahead

In some countries and regions, women still are endangered by armed conflict, poverty, gender discrimination, and crimes of violence, the ambassador pointed out. The COVID-19 pandemic also has affected women's development around the globe.

"In the speech, President Xi highlights the new challenges of the pandemic and points out that it is particularly important to address the special needs of women and deliver on the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action," Zhang said.

Xi called on the international community to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on women, strive for genuine gender equality, ensure that women advance at the forefront of our times, and enhance global cooperation in advancing women's development, he said.

"These propositions, with identified goals and actions, reflect the major concerns and demands of women and offer China's good practices of women's development as a reference for the global women's cause," the ambassador added.

Zhang also said Xi's speech demonstrated China's progress in women's development, which "reflects a people-centered approach".

The ambassador stressed that as the host country of the Fourth World Conference on Women, China is a practitioner and pioneer in women's development. With the largest population of women in the world, equality between men and women is a basic state policy in China and is deeply rooted in people's hearts, he said.

Women account for half of the people lifted out of poverty and more than 40 percent of the employed population in China, Zhang said. Gender equality is also fully achieved in compulsory education.

In addition, tens of thousands of women have been at the forefront in the fight against COVID-19 and hailed as heroes in harm's way. The Chinese government has also taken special measures to ensure employment and health for women and to reduce the financial burden on women-led enterprises, he said.

"It needs to be pointed out in particular that female diplomats make up more than one third of China's diplomatic personnel. Their excellence and dedication are greatly commended," the envoy added.

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