Chinese president makes four-point proposal on promoting women's rights

China's President Xi Jinping addresses a meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment at the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, New York, Sept 27, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

The president called on women's organizations in different countries to strengthen interactions, urging developed countries to scale up financial and technological assistance to developing countries and narrow the development gap among women in different countries.

"As the Chinese people pursue a happy life, every Chinese woman has the opportunities to excel in life and make their dream come true," Xi said, vowing to do more to enhance gender equality as a basic state policy, give play to women's important role as "half of the sky" and support them in realizing their own dreams and aspirations in both career and life.

China will, in the coming five years, help other developing countries build 100 "health projects for women and children," send teams of medical experts to provide services, and implement 100 "happy campus projects" to finance the schooling of poor girls and raise girls' school enrollment rate, said the president.

China will also host 30,000 women from developing countries for training programs in China and provide 100,000 skills training opportunities in local communities of other developing countries, Xi said.

Ban thanked the Chinese government for initiating the meeting, which will be a milestone in the cause of international women's development. He called on governments of all states to take measures to ensure gender equality while implementing the post-2015 development agenda.

Around 100 representatives, including 80 heads of state and government, attended the Global Leaders' Meeting, where they exchanged views on the issue of global women's development, reaffirming that gender equality is a precondition for social development.

They said the international community should maintain peace to prevent harms on women brought by wars, calling on all countries to make unremitting efforts to ensure safety and dignity of all women, protect women from violence, ensure their rights of education and working, and realize comprehensive and equal participation of women in social and economic activities at an early date.