Shen Yueyue, vice chairperson of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) and president of the All-China Women’s Federation (ACWF), stated during the fourth International Day of the Girl Child that the U.N. initiative of gender equality and rights enhancement is a good reflection of the global community’s determination to solve gender issues.
The event was organized by the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) and had the theme of "caring for girls and looking forward to the future."
According to Shen, the Chinese government has given special importance to the work and welfare of women. She also cited the four-point proposals made by President Xi Jinping on promoting gender equality and women's all-around development at the recent Global Summit of Women.
"Caring for girls is caring for the future of a nation," she said.
Since the opening of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 and the adoption of gender equality as a basic state policy, China has made efforts to integrate this concept into its laws and regulations.
The country has also implemented special policies supporting girls, especially those living below the poverty line, to ensure equal access to compulsory education for those of school age, she said.
Furthermore, the government has continuously cracked down on illegal prenatal gender tests and sex-selective abortions while improving girls' living conditions and providing better health services for adolescent girls.
China still faces problems and issues regarding women and girls' development, such as the relatively high sex ratio at birth, the impairment to rural girls' right of education, and the employment discrimination against female university students.