Altogether 1,168 out of 1,260 official representatives to attend the Chinese Ninth National Women's Congress, or 92.7 percent of the total, have a college education or above, an official with the All-China Women's Federation said Tuesday.

This indicates an improvement in the overall educational level of China's women. At the last national women's congress, the proportion of highly-educated representatives was 86.7 percent.

Of the 1,168 highly-educated women, 49 have doctors' degrees and 257 have masters' degrees.

The number of private company owners, technical professionals and those who have worked or studied overseas has increased by a large margin.

In addition to official representatives, the federation has also invited another 110 women to attend the congress, including 38 from Hong Kong and Macao.

The congress, held every five years, is to be held from Aug. 22-26 this year.

China now has more than 600 million women.

(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2003)