Keynote Address by H.E. Xi Jinping

President of the People’s Republic of China

At the Opening Ceremony of the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women

Beijing, October 13, 2025

Distinguished Colleagues and Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

Five years ago, I proposed another global leaders’ meeting on women. Today,  I am very pleased that we are having this gathering in Beijing to commemorate  the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and discussing ways  to promote the global women’s cause. On behalf of the Chinese government and  people, I would like to extend warm congratulations on the opening of the Global  Leaders’ Meeting on Women.

Women play an important role in creating, promoting and carrying forward  human civilization. And the international community has a shared responsibility  to advance the cause of women. Thirty years ago, the Fourth World Conference on  Women set the lofty goal of “Action for Equality, Development and Peace,” and  adopted the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Gender  equality has been etched in the agenda of our times, galvanizing the whole world  in its unwavering pursuit of that goal.

Over the past 30 years, guided by the spirit of the Beijing World  Conference on Women, the cause of women has been thriving around the world,  adding brilliant splendor to the progress of human civilization. Equality  between men and women is now a universal consensus of the international  community. It has been included in United Nations development agenda and  priority development targets, and 189 countries have ratified the Convention on  the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The environment  for women’s livelihood and development has been improving steadily. Nearly 1,600  laws on women’s rights and interests have been enacted by more than 190  countries, and more and more countries have made national action plans to  improve women’s well-being. Prominent progress has been achieved in women’s  empowerment. Their educational attainment has been steadily improving, and women  are playing an ever more important role in economic, political, cultural, and  social affairs. A great many outstanding women have stepped up to take the  international stage, living their lives to the full and making contributions  with their wisdom and strength.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

Women in every corner of the world are bound together by a shared future.  At present, complex challenges still hamper their all-round development.  Statistics show that globally, over 600 million women and girls are still mired  in war and conflict, and around 10 percent of women and girls are trapped in  extreme poverty. At the same time, deep-rooted problems such as violence and  discrimination still persist, the gender digital divide is widening, and  equality between men and women remains a lofty yet arduous task. Looking ahead,  we should rededicate ourselves to the purpose of the Beijing World Conference on  Women, and build greater consensus, broaden the paths forward, and take more  concrete actions to accelerate the new process of women’s all-round development.  To this end, I wish to make four proposals.

First, we should jointly foster an enabling environment for women’s growth  and development. Their all-round development is achieved under the prerequisite  of peace and tranquility. We need to uphold the vision of common, comprehensive,  cooperative and sustainable security, and must safeguard world peace, so that  all women can bask in the sunlight of happiness and tranquility and stay away  from the shadow of war and turmoil. We need to enhance the protection of women  and girls in regions struck by war, conflict, poverty or natural disaster, and  support the vital role of women in preventing conflict and rebuilding their  homes. We should improve mechanisms against violence and resolutely crack down  on all forms of violence against women.

Second, we should jointly cultivate powerful momentum for the high-quality  development of women’s cause. Modernization of the world should involve and  benefit women. We should proactively address the imbalance and inadequacy of  women’s development around the world, enable all women to share the benefits of  economic globalization, and propel women’s all-round development. We need to  seize the opportunity of the new wave of scientific and technological revolution  and industrial transformation, and empower women’s high-quality development  through innovation. We need to support women in playing an even bigger role in  green development, and strive to help them shine in life and realize their  dreams in this era of global modernization.

Third, we should jointly develop governance frameworks to protect women’s  rights and interests. We need to improve institutions and laws, introduce  further tangible and accessible policy measures, channel more quality health and  educational resources to all women, and strive to afford all women full and  equal enjoyment of various rights. We must promote an inclusive and harmonious  social environment that sets women free from discrimination and bias. We should  broaden the channels for women to participate in and deliberate on political  affairs, and support their extensive engagement in state and social governance.  We should jointly nurture an environment that respects women, and morph gender  equality into a common value and a code of conduct embraced by everyone in our  society.

Fourth, we should jointly write a new chapter in promoting global  cooperation on women. Not long ago, I proposed the Global Governance Initiative,  calling for a more just and equitable global governance system with the people’s  interests in mind. Women are crucial in reforming and improving the global  governance system. We must support them in assuming their historic  responsibilities, enabling them to play a substantive role in global governance  and share in its benefits. We should support the central role of the United  Nations (U.N.), urging it to pay more attention to the needs of women in  developing countries, create broad cooperation platforms for women from all  countries, and continually deepen exchanges and mutual learning, so as to help  women across the world thrive and shine together.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

In China, the cause of women has always been an integral part of the epic  Chinese modernization endeavors. Thanks to years of hard work, we have secured  historic achievements and seen historic changes in the cause of women in China.  We have won the largest battle against poverty in human history, and thereby  brought moderate prosperity to 690 million women, achieving ahead of schedule  the poverty reduction goal of the U.N.’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable  Development. We have reduced maternal mortality ratio by nearly 80 percent since  1995, and joined the leading upper-middle-income countries in core indicators  for maternal and child health. Today, women in China truly “hold up half the  sky” in economic and social development. They make up more than 40 percent of  the workforce, more than half of internet start-up founders, and more than 60  percent of all medalists in the past four Summer Olympic Games. In the new era,  Chinese women, more confident and vibrant than ever before, are taking part in  the whole process of state and social governance. They are fighting on the front  lines for rural revitalization and common prosperity as well as scientific  innovation and digital transition. They are writing a splendid history of the  cause of women in China. On the new journey of Chinese modernization, every  woman is a star.

China actively provides opportunities and support for global women’s cause  through its development. We have initiated the International Day for Dialogue  Among Civilizations, and set up the Prize for Girls and Women’s Education in  partnership with UNESCO. We have launched “maternal and child health,” “happy  campuses,” and other “small and beautiful” public welfare projects. We are  actively promoting international exchanges and cooperation on women under Belt  and Road cooperation, in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and within other  frameworks.

To further support the global cause of women, I’d like to make the  following announcement: In the next five years, China will donate another US$10  million to U.N. Women; earmark a quota of US$100 million in China’s Global  Development and South-South Cooperation Fund for implementing development  cooperation projects for women and girls in collaboration with international  organizations; launch 1,000 “small and beautiful” livelihood programs with  Chinese assistance that take women and girls as priority beneficiaries; invite  50,000 women to China for exchange and training programs; and establish a Global  Center for Women’s Capacity Building, which is aimed at conducting capacity  building and other development cooperation with relevant countries and  international organizations to train more female talent.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

As an ancient Chinese saying goes, “Steadfast dedication yields an enduring  fragrance.” Standing at this new historic starting point, let us carry forward  the spirit of the Beijing World Conference on Women, bear in mind the goal of a  community with a shared future for humanity, accelerate the new process of  women’s all-round development, and jointly create a better future for the human  race.

I wish the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women a full success. Thank you!