THE patriarchal concept of “men are superior to women” was deeply rooted in China’s past. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China， Chairman Mao Zedong made the now famous saying that“women can hold up half the sky，” which helped to advance the protection of legal rights for women. In the wake of the reform and opening-up policy， women have been deeply involved in social development， and gained unprecedented opportunities to improve their lives.
The female population of China has reached 660 million. At the 2015 Global Summit of Women in New York， President Xi Jinping reiterated China’s commitment made at the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing， to speed up efforts to promote gender equality and women’s all-round development.
It was also from 1995 that the Chinese government promulgated the Outline Program for Development of Chinese Women， aiming to promote women’s all-round development for three times within the limit of 5 and 10 years. The government implemented the basic national policy of gender equality， guided and promoted the all-round and healthy development of Chinese women in the fields of health， education， economy， participation in decision-making and management， social security， environment， and law. This development path corresponded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women adopted by the United Nations on December 18， 1979. As one of the earliest contracting states， China reports to the United Nations every five years on the completion of goals set by the Convention.
Legal Protection for Females
As early as 1992， China promulgated the first basic law on women’s rights and interests， the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women， which guarantees girls’ right to education， women’s employment rights and rights to labor protection， rural women’s right to contractual management of land and right to distribute income of rural collective economic organizations， women’s ownership of joint property in marriage and family and right to inherit property， becoming the institutional guarantee of promoting equality between men and women.
“Independent legislation to protect women’s rights and interests is rare in the world，” Weng Wenlei， vice president of Shanghai Women’s Federation， noted. After the promulgation of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women， a series of laws and regulations for the protection of women’s rights and interests were promulgated.“This legal system for the protection of women’s rights and the promotion of gender equality has played a decisive role in the implementation and maintenance of women’s rights and interests，”said Weng Wenlei.