China President Xi Urges Greater Female Participation in Politics

• At a global women's summit in Beijing, Xi Jinping appealed for women to be more actively engaged in politics and decision-making.
• While China has made significant progress in education and employment, it still receives criticism for the lack of women in top political positions.

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke out in favor of increased female participation in political and governmental decision-making at a global women's summit in Beijing on October 13, 2025, stating that such a move would help to ‘really internalize’ gender equality in society.

The 2-day "Global leaders meeting on women" was organised with the support of UN Women and aims to deepen the commitment to the development of women worldwide, gender equality and the holistic development of women, the authorities said. The attendance of heads of state from Iceland, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Dominica and Mozambique was reported by the state media.

President Xi said, “Countries needed to broaden channels for women to participate in political and decision-making, and promote women's broad participation in national and social governance.” Without peace and stability, there can be no development of women in all aspects, President asserted.

The gathering is held when China has made significant progress in the education of women who represent nearly half of the students in higher education and about 43% of the total employed population.

Nevertheless, the scarcity of high-ranking female politicians seems to contradict the Communist Party's concerted effort to increase the number of women in the leadership.

An absence of women in China's highest leadership has been a matter of concern by the United Nations in 2023, as it recommended China to implement statutory quotas and a gender parity system to accelerate the equal representation of women in government.