China's First Lady Peng Liyuan is a staunch supporter of the country's anti-AIDS advocacy. (Photo : Getty Images)
Nine Chinese women have made it to this year’s Forbes Power Women list, marking the country’s strongest showing by having the second highest number of representatives next to the United States.
On Monday, Forbes announced the 13th Annual World's Most Powerful Women List from seven different categories including business, billionaires, finance, media, politics, philanthropists and NGOs, and technology.
On the same day as the announcement, BBC News took note of China's improving performance in giving Chinese women equal opportunities by becoming the second most dominating country in the list, second only to the U.S. with 51 entries.
China's Most Powerful Women
According to BBC, there are a total of nine Chinese women who made the cut.
Holding the highest spot among their fellow Chinese citizens is Lucy Peng of the e-commerce giant Alibaba, and Margaret Chan who is currently the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Pollyanna Chu, the chief executive of Hong Kong-based financial services company Kingston Securities, and China's first lady Peng Liyuan also made it to the Top 100.
Among all of those named in the list, 32 are chief executives, 12 are international leaders, and 11 are billionaires, including nine who established their billion-dollar companies from nothing.
According to Forbes, the world's most powerful women represented an improving equality around the world.
"Their accomplishments are formidable on their own, and even more so given how hard it can be to establish inroads into industries and job titles traditionally dominated by men," the Forbes magazine article stated.
More Powerful Women in the West
While China performed very well this year, it goes without saying that the Forbes Top 100 World's Most Powerful Women was still dominated by the West.
On the very top is German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who retains her spot form last year's list, followed by American presidential candidate Hilary Clinton and U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen at the second and third place.
Bill Gates's wife and co-chairperson of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Melinda Gates holds the fourth spot, while General Motors CEO Mary Barra stays in fifth place same as last year.
Some significant additions to the list include Lens Technology CEO Zhou Qunfei and Taiwan's first female president Tsai Ing-Wen, who are tied at no. 17.
There were also some who were kicked out of the list including embattled Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff and Theranos Founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes.
