Women in China have been enjoying increasing independence and respect in the economic and political arenas as well as their family households, Xinhua reported.

China had about 137 million female workers by October 2010, accounting for 42.6 percent of the country's workforce. This compared to just 610,000 female workers, or 7.5 percent, in 1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded.

Meanwhile, women have started to outshine their male counterparts in journalism, teaching, healthcare and the police force.

Furthermore, in a move to encourage women in rural regions to participate in politics, female officials were elected into all village committees in Shandong, Zhejiang, Anhui, Hunan and Guangdong provinces, all of which completed leadership reshufflings in 2011.

The relatively small number of female politicians in China is a topic of criticism by Western media. However, the ratio of female lawmakers on the national stage stands at 22 percent, compared with only 17 percent in the U.S.

In addition to entering the political arena, Chinese women are also amassing personal fortunes.

China now has more self-made female billionaires than any other country in the world, and many of these women entrepreneurs have rags-to-riches stories that have inspired others to follow suit.

(China.org.cn March 8, 2012)

据新华社报道，中国妇女在经济生活、政治生活、以及家庭生活中越来越有独立性，也愈加受到尊重。

2010年10月，中国女职工达1.37亿，占总职工数的42.6%。而1949年中华人民共和国成立时，女职工仅有61万，是总职工数的7.5%。

如今，很多女性在新闻、教育、医疗、警察机关等领域比男同事做的还要好。

在鼓励农村妇女参政的活动中，2011年完成领导换届的山东、浙江、安徽、湖南、广东五省的所有村委会均有妇女入选。

中国的女政治家相对较少，这一直遭到西方媒体的非议。但是中国全国人大女代表的比例为22%，美国女性立法者的比例也才仅有17%。

除了参政，中国妇女还忙于累积个人财富。

据了解，中国白手起家的女性亿万富翁数量比其它任何国家都多，她们由穷至富的故事也激励了很多人。