Xi Jinping to Deliver Keynote at Global Women's Summit in Beijing

• President Xi Jinping will deliver the keynote speech at the opening of the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women next week in Beijing
• The meeting aims to advance global women's development through international cooperation

The Global Leaders' Meeting on Women will occur next week in Beijing, during which President Xi Jinping will address the participants representing the Chinese government to facilitate global cooperation for improving women's development around the globe.

This event will take place over two days and to host heads of state and government, leaders of parliaments, deputy prime ministers, ministers or representatives of intergovernmental organizations.

The Global Leaders' Meeting on Women will be a reconciliation of what President Xi described as "the 'renewal' of the energy of the Fourth World Conference on Women" held in Beijing in 1995; the conference permitted the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action to be launched and this remains the global reference point for women's rights and gender equality in global development.

It is anticipated to offer revitalized impetus for the advancement of gender equality and the all-round development of women for a common future worldwide. Xi first referred to holding this global leaders’ meeting, in 2020 during a UN event commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women.

Throughout the last ten years and especially since the 2012 period (18th National People's Congress), there has been a narrative shift regarding women's issues and women's equality.

To illustrate how important he ascribes to women's equality, Xi has participated in the Chinese National Women's Congresses in 2013, 2018, and most recently in 2023 and highlighted women who are empowered, along with a global comparison.

Data released by the Chinese government shows that 49.9 percent of students in higher education are female and that women comprise nearly 43 percent of the labor force in China.

Experts noted that with China hosting the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women; this represents its people-first view of global governance, and the advancement women and girls is a precondition to an inclusive global future.