The ratio of female deputies to the 10th National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, should rise to 25 percent from 21 percent, according to a female lawmaker.
Zhang Guoying, chairwoman of the Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress, said that the move is designed to enhance Chinese women’s political and social status and enable women to have more opportunities to participate in handling and discussing state affairs.
She said, “All members of society, particularly men, should work hard to safeguard women’s legitimate rights and interests and contribute to jointly advancing social progress and equality between men and women.”
Zhang, the head of the Guangdong provincial delegation of NPC deputies, called on all Chinese women to try to improve their ideological, political and moral quality, and treat everything with an ease of mind.
She said, “Women must pay particular attention to improving their scientific and cultural quality to cope with an increasingly fierce competitive environment. Otherwise, equality between men and women would be an empty word.”
(Xinhua News Agency March 9, 2002)
