For the dozens of participants at the seventh US-China Women's Leadership Exchange and Dialogue in Washington, the final speaker embodied the fact that women can lead on the highest levels.

"Women's development has been an important sign of the progress of human civilization," said Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Yandong, the woman who holds the highest government position in China, at the closing ceremony of the meeting, also called Women-LEAD, on Tuesday.

"Over the years, women have been an active part in China-US relations," Liu said. " I believe that if we can release the full potential of the 'she power' in China and the US, it will provide new impetus to the people-to-people exchange and to the building of the new type of major country relations between our two countries."

Liu was in town to lead the 2015 US-China Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE), of which Women-LEAD is a part.

Held by the US State Department in partnership with the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), the daylong event focused on women's economic empowerment, especially women's entrepreneurship, family-friendly workplace policies, women's access to capital and finance, and capacity-building.

"The United States stands behind efforts to make gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls a priority in the new Sustainable Development Goals and the Financing for Development Framework," said US Deputy Secretary Heather Higginbottom at the ceremony.

"We look forward to working with China to ensure these agreements reflect the importance of including women as key drivers of economic growth."

A delegation of 31 women government officials, entrepreneurs and media professionals from China attended the event. Their US counterparts include senior executives from companies such as Goldman Sachs and Johnson & Johnson.

"Investing in women not only is a moral obligation, but also a wise choice for social prosperity and sustainable development," said Lan Yang, owner of Sun Media Group in China and herself a media celebrity and advocate for the empowerment of women.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. Liu said the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action issued by the conference remain the guiding documents for the development of women worldwide.

According to Liu, China will host a Global Women's Summit in partnership with the United Nations in September.

Since its launch in 2011 by Liu and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Women-LEAD has increased exchanges between senior women leaders from the two countries, including an expert exchange to provide technical assistance in preventing and responding to domestic violence in Wuxi and Beijing earlier this year.

charlenecai@chinadailyusa.com