It’s International Women’s Day, and Chinese women want to have their say

You can see many female vanguards during this year’s Two Sessions, including Chinese military pilot and astronaut Wang Yaping, and chairwoman and president of Gree Electric Appliances, Dong Mingzhu, taking an active role in participating in China’s politics.

The ratio of female deputies in the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature body, has reached a record high: a quarter are all female. A total of 742 of the newly elected 2,980 deputies for the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) are women.

"As a female deputy in the new era, women have gained a wider perspective in our participation in political affairs, which is not limited to women’s issues, but has covered almost every aspect of society," said Zeng Liqun, a deputy to the 13th NPC.

NPC deputy Qin Guangwei said: "This year’s government work report pointed out that gender discrimination and status discrimination should be eliminated, which means that our country has put more emphasis on the power of women."

"We not only have sharp thinking and decisive executive abilities, but also innate affinity," NPC deputy Yang Rong said, women's outstanding communication skills have made them reliable public servants at the forefront of government work.