Xi Jinping Pushes for More Women in China’s Politics

12 days ago (Edited)

Screenshot from live stream

China just hosted the Global Women’s Summit 2025 in Beijing and it has been quite a successful one. The summit is being held together with United Nations (UN) Women. They have leaders from all over the world, countries like Iceland, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Dominica and Mozambique attending.

The summit is supposed to last for two days, starting on October 14, 2025, with their primary focus being on women’s development and gender equality worldwide. It is not just about the Chinese economy.

They were graced with the presence of the President, Xi Jinping who spoke at the opening ceremony of the summit. The president, in his speech, called for more women to participate in politics and decision making.

https://www.youtube.com/live/RkVPPngTL5w?si=wnPnDZRcM2U4-CsF

It is obvious that things are better than they used to be in the past for women in terms of roles and positions of power. The world almost had a women's president for America if Kamala Harris had won the election. It is still a big statement to see more women aspiring on their own to rise in the ranks.

President Xi Jinping said women should have a bigger role in national and social governance. Peace and stability are two important factors for women’s development worldwide and equality can help bring that.

It is clear, China has made significant progress in education for women, with about half of their higher education students being females. Statistically, as of today, women make up around 43% of China’s total workforce.

But despite such tremendous progress for them, it's only a few women that hold top political positions in China.

In 2022 for instance, no women were in the Politburo Standing Committee for the first time in 20 years. Having a lack of female leaders contrasts with the Communist Party’s push for equality and that's what makes it necessary.

However, it is necessary to make this point, women can only be encouraged to work hard to qualify for the role of politics, but they cannot be forced into it. If women do not show interest in politics then, men or the economy cannot be blamed if we have less women playing political roles.

The United Nations suggested that China should use quotas to increase women’s representation in government. Meaning there should be a minimum percentage of the government's political group that will be strictly for women.

President Xi made a wise and profound connection of women's development to family harmony, social stability and national progress.

China has an aging population challenge and women should take up bigger roles in society in addressing and handling that problem.

The summit's big highlight was the strong point that with more women in leadership, it can go a long way to help society and the nation grow more efficiently. This has been noticed and seen intentionally as a very big step forward.

Even in Saudi Arabia, where women barely took on most roles of authority, things are changing and women are getting empowered. The good part is it's being done the right way, encouraging women to push for the roles, and not the wrong way which is to fight men and constantly blame them as the cause of inequality.

The main aim of the summit is not just about China but the rest of the world, to encourage nations around the globe to improve gender equality and women’s participation in leadership.