The Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests is to be revised to guarantee gender equality. Since it was first enforced in 1992, the law has been praised by experts.

"It is the first law in China specifically enacted to safeguard women's legitimate rights and interests, to promote equality between men and women and to enable women to play an active role in society; and millions of women have benefited from it," said Wu Changzhen, director of the group tasked with revising the law, who as a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) was also involved in the first drafting 13 years ago.

"While China's economy has developed rapidly in the past few years, Chinese women have obtained higher status both in society and in the family than at the time when the law first came out. However, new problems relating to women's rights have cropped up, which the first law might not have foreseen," she said.

Meanwhile, women have become more conscious of their entitlements, "hence the necessity to ensure their rights with a legal back up," Wu added.

In November 2002, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the law's adoption, the national legislature accepted the proposal of revising the law and three years later, after several rounds of corrections, the draft amendment has finally seen the light of day.

The most important provision in the draft amendment, according to Chen Mingxia, director of the Centre for Gender and Law Studies, is "it is the first time for a Chinese law to state explicitly the equality of women and men as State policy."

She noted gender equality has been stipulated in the National Programme for Women Development 2001-10 since 1995 as part of the government's commitment to the Platform for Action adopted at the United Nations' Fourth World Conference on Women.

China is preparing a series of events to mark this conference at the end of this month, which is considered a milestone in the world women's efforts to achieve gender equality.

"But this must be woven into legal provision and passed to the future policy-makers," Chen said.

Another new provision that Chen speaks highly of is the government's decision to take proper measures to stamp out all forms of discrimination against women.

"It is in accordance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women made by the United Nations in 1979, which China ratified in 1980," said Chen. "This is a major move indicating the Chinese Government's responsibility for its commitment to this international convention, with regard to women's development in a global perspective."

The amendment to the 1992 law also has stipulations on women's representation in the country's power structure. For one, it requires that the NPC, the top legislature, and local people's congresses at all levels have adequate numbers of female deputies and should gradually raise the ratio of women lawmakers.

It also stipulates that at least one woman should be included in each village committee and more measures should be taken to raise the political status of women, including training female officials and promoting them to leading positions.

The proportion of women in leading jobs, particularly the highest posts, has remained low since 1995 -- 20.2 per cent of NPC deputies. China's global ranking in women's political participation has slumped from 12th in 1994 to 37th last year. The UN has cited 30 per cent participation as a target level.

By the end of 2003, women's representation on village committees was less than 20 per cent, while nationwide only 1 per cent of village heads were female, according to the All-China Women's Federation.

"It is good news that the central government has seen the gap between women and men in policy-making," says Mo Wenxiu, vice-chairwoman of the All-China Women's Federation.

"However, the provision just gives a general guideline rather than any specific quota as to how many more women will be able to join the top-level suite."

But Mo is satisfied with the draft amendment in terms of economic rights.

"It reinforces women's rights to property by stipulating that female farmers enjoy the same right to contract, to purchase or to own farm land," she said. "Economic independence is the most basic and crucial step to achieve gender equality. So this provision is very inspiring."

The amendment also enhances equality in the classroom and workplace. Opportunities should be shared from the beginning of school throughout the education system, employment, promotions and chances of pursuing continuing education or winning awards.

The revised law pays special attention to job discrimination. It stipulates that sex should not constitute a pretext for refusing to hire an applicant, and stating that certain positions are "unfit for women" will be made illegal.

The principle of "equal pay for equal work" is to be retained, while being extended to cover housing assignments and material benefits.

But despite these encouraging new provisions, Dr Xia Yinlan, president of the China Family Law Association and also vice-chairwoman of the Beijing Women's Federation, regrets the amendment fails to state that women and men must retire from work at the same age.

The amendment says it is in accordance with relevant government stipulations regarding the age of retirement.

"But the only government stipulation concerning this point is made by the Ministry of Personnel, which differentiates the age for retirement at 60 for men and 55 for women." This is "inequality," according to Xia, who believes the amendment acquiesces to the other regulation, when it really should tackle the matter.

Another highlight of the amendment is that sexual harassment, for the first time, has been made unlawful through legislation.

The revised draft states unequivocally that it is illegal to subject women to sexual harassment, and also urges enterprises and government institutions to take steps to prevent the occurrence of sexual harassment.

But Chen Mingxia sees this as merely the first step, believing that much more content needs to be added to the clause against sexual harassment, including a clearer definition and more specific stipulations on gathering evidence.

"A heavy penalty of compensation for the psychological suffering of victims should also be put into practice," she added.

Abortion remains a thorny matter for lawmakers. Selective abortion of female foetuses and female infanticide are prohibited under the draft amendment, to address China's gender imbalance for newborns -- 117 male babies for every 100 female, according to the fifth national census compiled in 2004.

But some experts are unwilling to take legal action against such abortions, believing women should have freedom of choice in childbearing.

"It is urgent to redress this discrepancy, but selective abortion cannot be controlled without blanket restrictions on all terminations, as there is no way to prove why a woman decides to have an abortion," said Xia.

Outside academic circles the draft amendment has aroused some concern from the general public. Yan Xiaoxing, a 50-year-old Nanjing civil servant, believes society has provided many opportunities for women in the past and women's social status has been raised considerably.

"The key issue is that we as women ourselves should broaden our horizons, study hard to be more knowledgeable, increase our awareness of gender equality and self-confidence as well," she said.

"If you are not ready and competitive, no one is to blame but yourself."

The "glass ceiling" is still in place in the corporate world, according to 32-year-old Ma Ning, who works as a journalist in Beijing.

"A workplace which fosters gender equality will surely foster profitability, owing to the team-building and communication skills of women. So specific measures should be mentioned in the revised law to protect women's rights in the workplace," she said.

Gu Mingliang, a 27-year-old software engineer from Nanjing, holds that equality does not mean the sexes are artificially put on a par, but rather that "the merit of each gender can be shown to be fully fledged."

"Women are neither men in skirts nor ribs of men. They are unique human beings like us men on this planet," he added.

Indeed, the word "equality" can imply different things. Above all, observes Tan Ling, director of the Women's Studies Institute of China, the evaluation of work done by men and women should be equal.

"In a male-dominant society, specifically, women should be empowered. This revised law, hopefully, will make the ball start to roll," she said.

(China Daily August 12, 2005)