* Cap.
1. An occasion of the congress

2. Voting

3. Gu Xiulian, Vice-Chairperson of the NPC Standing Committee, was elected the president of the All-China Women's Federation at the congress

4. During breaks

5. Discussions about women's development

Editor's note:
The Ninth National Women's Congress of China was held in Beijing, August 22-26, 2003. More than 1,300 participants from different social circles and ethnic backgrounds gathered to discuss various issues involving women's development. They also elected the All-China Women's Federation's new leaders. The following are some reports about the congress, published in China Daily.

Gender poses no barrier
'We are just asking for equal opportunities'

Yan Ao'shuang has a name that is full of ambition since "ao" in Chinese means boldness.
Yan said her father had wished she were a boy before she was born. But when he found he had a baby girl, he gave her an adamant name with the wish that she could exceed the male gender some day.
And Yan did not make him disappointed.
She is now deputy general director of the Beijing Academy of Science and Technology and the only woman among the decision-makers at the academy--one general director plus six deputies.
At 40, Yan is also the youngest among the academy's top managers.
Her current task is to direct a 30-million-yuan (US$3.64 million) project to build a new high-tech park in Beijing. "I don't feel much about my gender difference when I am at work," Yan said, "I think women can do as wel1 as men in all levels of work including the top executive levels."

'Pyramid' participation
Yan's success ought not be a big surprise nowadays in China. The famous saying of late Chairman Mao Zedong: "Women hold up half the sky" is on everyone's lips and women have worked in various fields and levels of society, over the past several decades.
However, women's political participation--the participation of women in decision-making and managerial roles over the nation and social affairs--could be described today as a pyramid, said Wu Xiuping, 59, who is the vice-president of the Beijing Women's Federation.
"The higher the position, the fewer the women," said Wu.
She said promoting women's political participation has remained one of the hardest tasks for all level's of women's federations around the country because "the work sometimes challenges the traditional bias of the whole society."
The natural images of women are almost fixed in people's mind like "mothers who feed babies" and "wives who cook with aprons."
And women are often portrayed as "gossips, being emotional and being too concerned about tiny things."
"With so many prejudiced impression, it is hard for women to win trust from their managers," Yan said.
"On1y after women are able to prove themselves as good as men, sometimes more so, can they win the trust.
"But by then, the chance for promotion may have already slipped away.
"In contrast, men are usually regarded as natural leaders with potential."
Beijing arguably has a better and more accommodating environment, said Wu.
People stil1 have fond memories of the elections for vice-mayors in Beijing during the annual local people's congress in early 1988, during which the Bejing People's Congress deputies voted both women candidates into the top municipa1 executive positions after they had heard all of the 10 candidates' ideas for the development of the city.
For the first time in history, Beijing had two women vice-mayors out of seven.
Today, they have gone on to become top stateswomen in China.
Wu Yi is now vice-premier and He Luli is vice-chairperson of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature.
But even today, Beijing only has one woman in the top echelon of municipal government.

Appointment system
China started its government reforms in the late 1990s to reduce redundancy, improve efficiency and services and prevent corruption.
As a result, a new system of appointments through open and fair competition began to evolve in the nation's capital in 1995, the year when the Fourth World Conference on Women was held.
The vacant leadership positions in the local government agencies were made public and any qualified candidates were encouraged to apply. All had to go through written tests and interviews to compete for the positions.
The person with best score was appointed to the position after their previous performance was appraised and the opinions of their colleagues and superiors heard. The method is still used today.
In the deputy director general exams in Beijing in 2001, Yan stood out.
Among the more than l0 people who competed to become the deputy director general of the Beijing Academy of Science and Technology, she topped both the written test and interview.
Yan's success did not surprise many since she already had a top education background. She got her bachelor degree from the Physics Department of Peking University in 1985 and finished her master's degree program at Beijing Normal University in 1988.
In l995, she got a PhD degree after three years' study at the University of Manchester in Britain. She had been doing research work since 1995 at the academy.
To be an eminent scientist was always her dream. So she hesitated when the academy asked her to apply for the higher position.
"I didn't know whether giving up my research work was a wise idea because administration work was a brand-new challenge for me," Yan said.
Having worked as deputy director general for two years, she has won unanimous backing from her colleagues for being "efficient, fair, strict and full of affinity."
In Yan's initial intake there were 97 women candidates, accounting for 18.7 percent of all applicants. Among the 171 who passed the written test, 39 were women. Of the 30 who finally won appointments, nine were women.
Yan recalled that some male candidates had doubted her move.
"They said I 1ooked very different from what they had always pictured a woman leader to be, mannish and tough," she says.
"The bias and traditional thoughts about women becoming leaders cannot be changed by a single competition. But as more and more women get chances to move up through the ranks through this relatively fair process, more people will see our potential."

Open selection
Li Yunli, 53, clearly remembers the first open selection exam in Beijing in l995. She was the only woman to pass the exam in which 173 candidates competed for five deputy general positions.
Sixty-six candidates competed to become the deputy general director of the Beijing Family Planning Commission and Li won.
Unlike Yan, Li had abundant governmental administration experience, since she had worked in the government office of Chaoyang District for about 20 years and had worked as president of the Chaoyang Women's Federation for three years.
Li did not pin much hope on the exam, however, and the only motivation for her to take part was to test her knowledge and ability, she says.
Her overall score ranked second among all the candidates and she is still in the job, as the only woman among the four deputy general directors and the single director general at the commission.
According to Wu Xiuping, a target for women's participation in government and politica1 affairs has been set in the Program for the Development of Chinese Women (1995-2000).
"The target has basically been achieved in Beijing," said Wu. "Our next five-year target is to keep improving the proportion of women leaders at all levels.
"Some people criticize us as extreme feminists, we aren't. We are just asking for equa1 opportunities that we deserve to have."
Yan said a1though some women have excellent ability, they are unwi1ling to take part in the selection process, which is part of the reason why women are underrepresented at all levels of government.
"Women are not as utilitarian compared with men," Yan said. "Women always focus on how to do the work the best without considering what benefits they can get if the job is accomplished."
Yan also said some factors that people thought were shortcomings of women, in terms of being a leader, could actually be seen as advantageous.
"Lacking utilitarianism could make us easily unite other decision-makers and make us excellent consensus builders," she said.
"Being 'emotional' could be seen as being full of affinity and humanity. Being 'careful' and sometimes 'meticu1ous' avoids big mistakes in the decision-making process."
Both Yan and Li said "family and child" would not be a burden for a woman if her daily life was well organized. They also admitted that they were both lucky that their husbands supported their work．
Li said, unlike many husbands who would feel inferior when their wives were in higher positions, her husband--a blue-collar worker--never complained and did more of the housework than her.
But the costs of a successful career are sometimes unavoidable, Yan said. She had to leave her 3-year-old daughter in Beijing to study in Britain and when she returned, her daughter hardly knew her．
Now still busy with work, Yan still has little time to spend with her l4-year-old girl.
"As a mum, I'm not so competent," she said with regret. "But I believe when she grows up, she will understand."

Improving political status

An increasing number of women in China are entering politics in their own right.
According to information released by the All-China Women's Federation earlier this month, five women currently hold executive posts in the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC)--the country's top legislature, and the State Council. Two others are vice-chairpersons of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Women now hold 14 ministerial positions in departments in the State Council, 56 1eading posts in 31 province-level administrative zones and 4,353 leading posts across 2,813 counties.
Gu Xiulian, vice-president of the ACWF and vice-chairperson of the Standing Committee of the NPC, said Chinese women were participating in the administration of State and social affairs on a greater scale, a clear indicator of the improving status of Chinese women.
But the country is still behind the goal of women holding 30 percent of major political posts as set by the United Nations as a millennium development goal.
In fact, 604 women made up 20.2 percent of the l0th NPC's deputies, which was l.6 percentage points lower than that of the ninth NPC.
Of the 159 members of the 10th NPC Standing Committee--the working body of the country's top legislature--21, or 13.2 percent, are women.

More than just 'pretty faces'

Some people still refer to women as huaping (vase)--an old Chinese word describing a woman who is employed not for her ability but for her pretty face--in today's leadership groups, and believe that their job is more or less trying to add flavor to this ma1e-dominated group simply by existing.
When Tao Shimei started her career more than 20 years ago, she had set a target for herself to never become just another "pretty face" in the office.
"There is no God who can make sure that we are to be successful," said Tao, now deputy general director of the Bureau of Justice of East China's Zhejiang Province. "Yet, neither is there a God that says that we must be the ones to fail. As women, we are not 'pretty faces' at all; we should do our part, and do it well."
For more than 20 years, Tao has served at different posts. She worked with the Communist Youth League at the county level, as well as women's federations and family planning committees. She rose to become a deputy Party secretary of a Party committee at the county level.
For l0 years beyond that, she headed the Party disciplinary commission in Jiaxing, a city in central Zhejiang. Last year, Tao's down-to-earth style and her outstanding work ethic enabled her to be selected as the deputy general director of the provincial bureau of justice after public selection throughout the province.
It is the first time in history for Zhejiang's provincial government openly se1ected women for senior provincial government posts. Apart from Tao, the other 11 elected women leaders have taken similar jobs in the fields of personnel, high-technology, education, industry, commerce and other positions in Zhejiang Province.
"As a female public official, what I represent is not just myself but rather all women in Zhejiang. The open selection last year was a great chance provided for women," Tao said.
Tao admitted that women still account for too small of a percentage in public service on the whole, but the situation is getting better.
"In the male-dominated wor1d of public office, it is much easier for men to get acquainted with each other and receive more information," she said.
"And people tend to be more strict with women than men. A bold and resolute female officia1 is often said to be having no 'womanly charm.' Yet, a sociable woman leader somehow may get the notoriety of having no moral integrity.''
Tao said that there had been many occasions in her work when people were reluctant to co-operate with her, for the simple reason that they just did not pay much attention to a female official.
"Therefore, for women there is really no shortcut to success. What we must do is continue to work hard, with courage and a strong will," she said.
Tao refuses to concede that she has been a successful woman. But she admitted she owed her achievements primarily to the fact that she has never stopped acquiring knowledge.
Having missed the opportunity to attend a college in person, Tao said she has studied all of her col1ege courses independently and got her bachelor diploma through correspondence studies.
"There is no end to learning, especial1y for a government official. Otherwise, it won't be long before you are behind the times," she said.
Tao said that female officials in China are usually more tolerable, modest, patient, and show more care and responsibility when compared to their male colleagues. But on the other hand, they are not as good as their male counterparts in fields such as coordinating departments, and being bold and resolute.
"To overcome these shortcomings, we must keep on gaining more know1edge and new ideas, to see things from a broader perspective. We should stop fee1ing self-abased because we are women. That wil1 help a 1ot in our daily work," she said.
Besides, accumulating more working experience is also important for a female official. Tao ca11ed for society to train more women to work in government offices between the ages of 35 to 45 and offer them more leadership opportunities.

Equal age retirement urged

Representatives attending the on-going Ninth National Women's Congress of China yesterday called for the statutory retirement age to be made equal for men and women.
However, the congress did not approve any motions on the issue.
In China, the retirement age for women is generally five years younger than that for men. According to government rules, professional women working for government institutions and State-run companies should retire at the age of 55, but men should retire at 60. Female blue-collar workers may retire at the age of 50 and men at 55.
It is a waste that lots of well-educated women retire at an age when they are still able to make a positive contribution in their job, said Cao Suying, president of the provincial women's federation in North China's Hebei Province.
Cao said she believed the central government set different retirement ages for men and women in the early days of the People's Republic of China to protect women's interests, since women were subject to the strain of bearing and rearing children.
But since China adopted a new family-planning policy in l979, couples have been having fewer children and, as a result, women have fewer household chores and have more energy for a career.
Xia Yinlan, vice-president of the Chinese Society for the Study of Marriage and Household Relationships, said: "The policy of having different retirement ages for men and women allows a kind of discrimination against women. We expect to include its abolition as part of our revised Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests."

Federation to press for more women in top jobs

In line with its newly amended constitution, the A1l-China Women's Federation (ACWF), the largest women's organization in the country, has pledged to promote the recruitment of more women from its ranks.
The Ninth National Women's Congress of China, he1d from August 22 to 26, passed the amendment to the ACWF's constitution, which says that the federations at all leve1s shou1d always recommend and supply women to participate in government and political affairs.
"In the next five years, the ACWF will try its best to turn out more women for Party committees, the peop1e's congresses and government departments at different levels," said Ma Yanjun, director of ACWF Human Resources Department.
The ACWF wil1 a1so help its own 80,000 women members improve their ski1ls, said Ma.
Over the past five years, many women were sent to work in local governments. For example, Wang Meixiang, the former president of the provincial women's federation in eastern China's Fujian Province, has become the vice-governor of the province.
Wei Xiaoqin, the former president of the provincial women's federation in eastern China's Jiangxi Province, has become the secretary-general of the provincial government.
Likewise, the former vice-president of the ACWF, Hua Fuzhou, is expected to be promoted to the position of vice-minister of Labor and Social Security in September.

'I do' for many girls means 'I work'

With her mother acting as go-between, Ms Zhu, a third-year student in the philosophy department of Beijing Normal University, dated four different men over the summer holiday alone in hopes of finding her Mr Right.
"It is not easy to find a good job these days," said Ms Zhu, "so maybe it is better to find an established man and marry as soon as possible."
However, Xiao Wei, a 35-year-old woman from Beijing, thinks differently. Xiao, who worked in an overseas-financed company for 10 years, has been a full-time housewife for the past three years.
"In the beginning, I felt very pleased to be at home rearing my child without going to work, but as time goes by, I feel my everyday life is a bit empty," said Xiao. "Women should have their own careers."
Zhu and Xiao are not alone in questioning whether good husbands are worth more than good jobs, a question brought to the forefront again with the discussion of women's issues at the just-closed Ninth National Women's Congress of China.
A sample survey of women's positions in society, carried out among 19,000 people by the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) and the National Bureau of Statistics in December 2000, indicated that 34.1 percent of the respondents held the opinion that "good husbands are better than good jobs."
A man surnamed Wang, an office worker with the ACWF, said that this accords with the point of view of most men.
"But none of my female colleagues agree. They are enterprising and independent, and hope to find a balance between career and family life," said Wang.
Wang Qi, general manager of the Qiyang Cultural Advertising Co Ltd, from Southwest China's Sichuan Province, suggested a third viewpoint, that good jobs and good husbands are of equal importance to women.
"Since it is hard for women to find jobs at the present time, some girls may first turn to marriage. But if women want to have equal rights with their husbands instead of being dependent, they must have their own careers," said the 32-year-old general manager.
Wang Shuxian, formerly ACWF Vice-President, admitted that because of physiological factors and the traditional division of labor, women face greater pressure and challenges than men in finding employment. Therefore, she said, it's unfair to have women doing the same jobs as men without getting the same pay.
The former women's affairs official believes that the mere fact that the opinion "good husbands are better than good jobs" has been discussed extensively in recent years, actually shows there has been progress in Chinese society.
Before the founding of New China in 1949, there was absolutely no such question, and women seldom had the chance to go out to work and were fully dependent on their position in the family, said Wang Shuxian.

Women's job skills targeted
Federation outlines plan to boost employment and social standing

A p1edge by the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) to improve the lives of more than 600 mi11ion Chinese women has been well received across the country.
Friday saw the opening of the six-day Ninth National Women's Congress of China, where ACWF Vice-President Gu Xiulian delivered a report making "helping more women get employed or re-employed" the federation's top priority over the next five years.
For 42-year-old Zhao Qinghua from Tianjin in North China, the ACWF's promise is more than encouraging.
"They (officials with the women's federations) have helped many people, and want to do more now. It cements my fee1ing that we are not alone in our troubles," said Zhao.
She recalled the desperation felt after being laid off from her factory job in 1999. She had worked there since the age of 18.
"If it had not been for the 4,000-yuan (US$483) loan I got from the local women's federation to start a small grocery store, I real1y do not know how I would have survived with my sick mother-in-law and school-aged child," Zhao told China Dai1y.
The grocery store now earns her a monthly average of 1,000 yuan (US$120), triple her original laid-off allowance.
Mu Liang, who runs a household service center in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, especially applauded the federation's promise to train more laid-off women.
"We have so far hired 15 middle-aged laid-off women and would like to take more. We believe the occupationa1 training provided by the local women's federation made them quite competent for these jobs," he said.
In her speech Gu said the ACWF will help train and employ or re-employ 2 million women over the next five years. She also said the ACWF plans to increase the proportion of women participating in politics, reduce illiteracy among women, improve healthcare, protect property rights for women and children and upgrade their level of social security and welfare.
The congress, one of the most important political events for Chinese women, is held every five years. This year's event has attracted 1,260 representatives from all walks of life and all regions of the country.
Gu said the past five years have seen the greatest improvement in the living situation of Chinese women, and the representation at this congress reflects that fact.
For example, 92.7 percent of the representatives have at least gone to junior college, indicating an improvement in the overall educational level of Chinese women. The percentage at the last congress was 86.7. The proportion of women who are technical professionals, own private companies or have worked or studied overseas has likewise increased.
The federation also invited 110 other women to attend the congress, including 38 from Hong Kong and Macao.