Traditional Chinese society was male-centered. Sons were preferred to daughters, and women were expected to be subordinate to fathers, husbands, and sons. A young woman had little voice in the decision on her marriage partner (neither did a young man). When married, it was she who left her natal family and community and went to live in a family and community of strangers where she was subordinate to her mother-in-law. Far fewer women were educated than men, and sketchy but consistent demographic evidence would seem to show that female infants and children had higher death rates and less chance of surviving to adulthood than males. In extreme cases, female infants were the victims of infanticide, and daughters were sold, as chattels, to brothels or to wealthy families. Bound feet, which were customary even for peasant women, symbolized the painful constraints of the female role.

Protests and concerted efforts to alter women's place in society began in China's coastal cities in the early years of the twentieth century. By the 1920s formal acceptance of female equality was common among urban intellectuals. Increasing numbers of girls attended schools, and young secondary school and college students approved of marriages based on free choice. Foot binding declined rapidly in the second decade of the century, the object of a nationwide campaign led by intellectuals who associated it with national backwardness.

Nevertheless, while party leaders condemned the oppression and subordination of women as one more aspect of the traditional society they were intent on changing, they did not accord feminist issues very high priority. In the villages, party members were interested in winning the loyalty and cooperation of poor and lower-middle-class male peasants, who could be expected to resist public criticism of their treatment of their wives and daughters. Many party members were poor and lower-middle-class peasants from the interior, and their attitudes toward women reflected their background. The party saw the liberation of women as depending, in a standard Marxist way, on their participation in the labor force outside the household.

The position of women in contemporary society has changed from the past, and public verbal assent to propositions about the equality of the sexes and of sons and daughters seems universal. Women attend schools and universities, serve in the People's Liberation Army, and join the party. Almost all urban women and the majority of rural women work outside the home. But women remain disadvantaged in many ways, economic and social, and there seems no prospect for substantive change.

The greatest change in women's status has been their movement into the paid labor force. The jobs they held in the 1980s, though, were generally lower paying and less desirable than those of men. Industries staffed largely by women, such as the textiles industry, paid lower wages than those staffed by men, such as the steel or mining industries. Women were disproportionately represented in collective enterprises, which paid lower wages and offered fewer benefits than state-owned industries. In the countryside, the work of males was consistently better rewarded than that of women, and most skilled and desirable jobs, such as driving trucks or repairing machines, were held by men. In addition, Chinese women suffered the familiar double burden of full-time wage work and most of the household chores as well.

4. Proportion of Women in the Officials at or Above County Level in the Past Five Years (%)

2. Eliminating Illiteracy
With a reduction in the rate of illiterate women, the gap in the levels of education between men and women is also reduced. In 1995, 13.4 million young and middle-aged women became literate in China. By 2000, the rate of illiteracy among young and middle-aged people went down under 5%; the rate of illiterate women in 1999 reduced 2.5% from 1995; and the gap in the rates of adult illiteracy between men and women was reduced from 19% in
1990 to 13% in 1999. Meanwhile, the difference between men and women in the years of receiving education reduced from 1.7 years in 1995 to 1.5 years.

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Women's Organizations and Institutions in China

I. Government Department

National Working Committee on Children and Women Under the State Council Founded on February 22, 1990, the National Working Committee on Children and Women Under the State Council (NWCCW) is a coordination and discussion organization through which the State Council plays a role in the work on children and women. It is responsible for urging the government departments to carry out various laws, policies, statutes and measures
about children and women and developing the children and women cause.

The NWCCW is made up of ministers from 29 ministries and commissions, including the State Development Planning Committee, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance, as well as the principal leaders from various social groups.
The basic functions of the NWCCW are: to coordinate and promote various government departments' work on the protection of the rights and interests of children and women; to coordinate and promote the establishment and implementation of the children and women development programs; to coordinate and promote the government departments concerned to provide the necessary manpower, money and materials for the work on children
and women; to guide, urge and examine the work of the working committees on children and women in various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government.

Wu Yi, the State Councilor, is the Director of the NWCCW.

The NWCCW set up the office under it.

Department of Community Health and Maternal & Child Health, Ministry of Health

The basic functions of the Department of Community Health and Maternal & Child Health are: to work out complete regulations, technological standards and operation criterion according to the Law of the PRC on Maternal and Infant Health Care; to supervise the implementation of the law and the special techniques related to women and infant health; to draw up the in-service training plans for the supervisors of the law, technological appraisers and professional personnel; to work out the measures checking on the professional personnel and the recognition of their
professional qualification; to draw up the plans, policies and technical criterion of promoting the quality of the birth population and guide the implementation; to work out the plans, managing measures and technological criterion for women's health care and guide the implementation so as to control the main women's diseases; to formulate and guide the implementation of the measures of the establishment and management of women and infants health organizations and their technological and service criterion; to be responsible for the observation of women and children health and the management of information for annual report; to enhance international cooperation and exchanges in terms of women health.

Department of Medical Insurance and Department of Labor & Wages, Ministry of Labor & Social Security

The Department of Medical Insurance is responsible for managing medical insurance, insurance for industrial accidents and birth insurance for workers in cities and towns and staff members of departments and institutions, as
well as drawing up and implementing the policies and plans concerned.

The Department of Labor & Wages is the functional department responsible for adjusting the labor relations and the macro regulations of wage distribution in the enterprises. One of the important functions is to work out the working
time, rest and leave system and the policy of special labor protection for women workers in the enterprises.

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II. Legislative Body

Office of Workers, Youth and Women, Committee on Internal and Judicial Affairs of the National People's Congress

The Office of Workers, Youth and Women, is an important part of the Committee on Internal and Judicial Affairs
of the NPC. In daily work, it is responsible for contacting the government departments and NGOs concerned with the problems of guaranteeing the rights and interests of women and children. The main responsibilities are: to carry out
the research and draft in terms of the legislation on women, children and juveniles and do the preparations before the discussion of the law cases; to undertake the drafting of the opinion documents discussed by the presidium of the NPC; to make examinations on the status of the implementation of the laws on women, children and juveniles; to check on the records of the local statutes of women, children and juveniles; and to deal with the letters from the masses about women, children and juveniles.

The People's Congress, at various levels in provinces, autonomous regions and
municipalities directly under the Central Government, have corresponding institutions
for guaranteeing the rights and interests of women and children.

III. Non-Governmental Organizations

All-China Women's Federation

Founded on April 3, 1949, the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) is a mass group united by women from various ethnicities and circles for the further liberation of women. It is the largest NGO for improving women's status in China, and its basic function is to stand for women, protect women's rights and interests, and promote equality between men and women.

The ACWF practices an organizational system of local women's federations and group members. The local women's federations at various levels are set up according to the state administrative divisions. Women workers' committees
of trade unions in factories, mines and enterprises, and those at upper levels are all group members of the ACWF. At present there are about 60,000 federations at or above the township and neighborhood level, 980,000 women's representatives' committees and women's committees at the grassroots-level, and about 5,800 local group members at various levels.

The highest power organ of the ACWF is the National Women's Congress held every five years. The Standing Committee is the leading organ when the Executive Committee is not in session. Under it there is the Secretariat,
made up of the First Member and several Members who are elected by the Standing Committee and in charge of the daily work. The ACWF has the Human Resources Department, Women Development Department, Rights and Interests Department, Publicity Department, Children Department and International Liaison Department.

National Committee of Young Women's Christian Associations of China

Founded in 1923, the National Committee of the YWCAs of China is a public service group in the spirit of Christ, aiming to promote moral, intellectual, physical and social development of women, render service to society, and bring benefit to people.

Talented Women Working Committee of China Society for the Research of Talented People 

Founded in June 1963, the Talented Women Working Committee is composed of people from various circles at home and abroad who have the ability of doing academic research and devote to the research of development of talented people. It aims to study problems on the talented women, probe the rule of women's growing into talented people, promote the development of the talented women and give full play to the role of women in the economic developmentand reform and opening up of China.

China Women Entrepreneurs Association

Founded in 1985, the China Women Entrepreneurs Association has 33 group members and over 7,000 individual members across provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, aiming to serve women entrepreneurs heart and soul.

Women's Committee of Returned Scholars Association

Founded in 1985, the Women's Committee of Returned Scholars Association has 2,000 members,
aiming to enhance academic exchanges and promote mutual understanding and friendly relations
among the women scholars of various circles at home and abroad.

Chinese Women Geological Workers' Committee of the Geological Association of China

Founded in March 1990, the main functions of the Chinese Women Geological Workers'
Committee are to provide women geologists and scientists with more chances of scientific
and technological exchanges and cooperation and to publicize the role of women in the field of geology.

Women Workers' Committee of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions

Founded on February 5, 1991, the Women Workers' Committee of the All-China Federation
of Trade Unions is a democratic and representative organization for women workers. Its main
functions are to stand for and protect women workers' legitimate rights and special interests
and carry out different work according to women workers' characteristics and wills.

Women Mayors Chapter of China Association of Mayors

Founded in March 1991, the Women Mayors Chapter of China Association of Mayors through
various activities, studies the common problems occurring to female mayors, publicizes female
mayors' achievements and builds the good image of female mayors, so as to improve the quality
of female mayors as a whole and promote the urban development.

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Women's Committee of the Society for the Advancement of Revolutionary Base Areas

Founded on March 22, 1991, the Women's Committee of the Society for the Advancement
of Revolutionary Base Areas is the functional department for the work on women in the
revolutionary base areas, aiming to serve the people in the revolutionary base areas in
terms of material and moral building.

China Women Scientific and Technological Workers Association

Founded on September 30, 1993, the China Women Scientific and Technological Workers
Association is a non-profit group voluntarily organized by women from scientific and
technological circles and women who care for the development of science and technology.
It aims to encourage and support women scientific and technological workers to care for
and participate in the development of science, economy, politics and society, unite women
scientific and technological workers together, give full play to their capabilities, and improve
their quality as a whole.

China Women Tourism Committee of the China Tourism Association

Founded on January 20, 1994, the China Women Tourism Committee, as a national
association for women in the tourism industry, is a professional organization under the
China Tourism Association. It is composed of female managing personnel in the tourism
departments and departments related to tourism industry, as well as women experts
and scholars who research on tourism.

Committee of Chinese Women City Planners of Chinese City Planners Association

Founded on March 8, 1994, the main functions of the Committee of Chinese Women
City Planners are to enhance academic exchanges, promote advanced technologies,
improve the professional capability of female city planners, timely reflect their views and
suggestions, and protect their legitimate rights and interests.

China Women Judges Association

Founded on May 7, 1994, the China Women Judges Association has 29 group members
and 17,528 individual members. It aims to unite women judges across China to study
intensively the law, enlarge professional knowledge, improve the qualities and status
of women judges, reflect women judges' voices, and protect their legitimate rights and
interests. It also publicizes the law and provides people with counseling services on the law.

China Women Procurators Association

Founded on November 17, 1994, the China Women Procurators Association aims to
conduct the research on professional theories and issues on practice, enhance professional
learning, facilitate exchanges of women procurators' experiences in executing the law,
and improve their own qualities. It has 26,000 members at present.

China Women Photographers Association

Founded on April 18, 1995, the China Women Photographers Association is an academic
mass group composed of professional and amateur women photographers. Its main
activities are holding exhibitions for women photographers, academic research, professional
training and counseling service, as well as enhancing exchanges among women photographers
from both home and other countries. It has 243 members at present.

Women Entrepreneurs' Association of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce

Founded on May 25, 1995, the Women Entrepreneurs' Association is a membership association
of women entrepreneurs under the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce. Its members
are all outstanding women presidents, managers, factory directors and senior managing talents
recommended by local federations of industry and commerce. At present it has 200 members.

All China Women’s Federation (ACWF)
http://www.women.org.cn/english/index.htm

This governmental organization was founded in 1949 to promote gender equality in China . The website includes information about the organization, translations of relevant laws and regulations, statistics, and other information on women in China .

Ling long Women’s Magazine
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/linglong/index.html

Columbia University’s C. V. Starr East Asian Library provides over 200 digitized issues of this 1930s Shanghai women’s magazine online.

Women's Magazines from the Republican Period, Barbara Mittler, University of Heidelberg
http://www.sino.uni-heidelberg.de/womag/index.htm

Features introductions to and select images from several women’s magazines published in China from 1911-1941. Also includes a bibliography.