Gu Xiulian, deputy director of the Women and Children's Work Commission under the State Council and vice chairwoman of the All-China Women's Federation, told a national working meeting held in Chongqing Tuesday that women have already been promoted to leading positions in the local governments of all 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in the country.

The proportion of female university students grew by 2.9 percentage points over the past five years.

At present, women account for 46.7 percent of the total number of employees in the country. More than 3.3 million of unemployed female workers have found new jobs in the last five years.

The proportion of women among the poor population in rural areas decreased by 10 percent over the past five years. More than 1.8 million women who live under the poverty line have received government relief.

Over the past decade, the mortality rate of children has decreased by over 33 percent, and the occurrence of malnutrition of children has decreased by a half.

(People’s Daily 10/25/2000)