The Chinese Government attaches great importance to women’s participation in international affairs. Women are included in every official delegation sent to international and regional conferences, as for example the delegations to the Special Session of the General Assembly on Women in 2000 and that on Children in 2002, both headed by the then State Councillor Ms. Wu Yi.

In China, there are 1,239 women working in the field of foreign affairs, accounting for 28.5 per cent of the total. As of July 2002, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had 6 women ambassadors, 4 women consuls-general, and 46 women counsellors in its overseas agencies, accounting for 4 per cent, 7.7 per cent, and 15.2 per cent respectively among diplomats of those ranks. There were 226 women at home and 180 abroad with the rank of First Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accounting for 36.8 per cent and 31.5 per cent respectively among Ministry staff of that rank, while women with the rank of Second Secretary numbered 169 at home and 82 abroad, accounting for 33.7 per cent and 27.8 per cent respectively among staff of that rank. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Trade provide examples of the representation of Chinese women in international organizations. According to figures from those Ministries, a total of eight women have been selected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work in international organizations on behalf of the Chinese Government, or 24.2 per cent of the total selected for that purpose. Among them, two serve at higher levels, with the highest being the Director of the Documentation Division of the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management at the New York Headquarters of the United Nations. The Ministry of Foreign Trade, on the other hand, has nominated five women to work in international organizations, accounting for 18 per cent of the total number of the international staff sent by the Ministry of Foreign Trade (27). Among them, two are senior staff at or above the level of deputy divisional director (D level) and three are professionals (P level) representing respectively 50 per cent of the total number of senior staff (4), and 13 per cent of the total professional staff (23). Many other governmental agencies have also nominated their women staff to work in international organizations.

In order to increase the number of Chinese women working in international organizations as representatives of the Government, China has taken the following measures:

(1)Upholding the principles of gender equality and non-discrimination, actively nominating women to serve in international organizations. In the selection process, following the common practice of international organizations, priority is given to women from among candidates with the same qualifications.

(2)Consciously placing more women in operating units that deal with international organizations, so as to give them more exposure to international affairs and a better understanding of international organizations, thus helping them broaden their horizons and accumulate multilateral work experience.

(3)Improving women’s overall qualifications and preparedness to work for international organizations by enhancing their training in foreign languages and professional expertise, as well as through cross-training programmes. Ministry of Foreign Affairs statistics show that since 1996, 65 women cadres have received academic training, 3,491 were given theoretical or operational training, 88 were offered overseas training or study tours, and 4,570 participated in cross-training programmes.

Article 9

1. States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain their nationality. They shall ensure in particular that neither marriage to an alien nor change of nationality by the husband during marriage shall automatically change the nationality of the wife, render her stateless or force upon her the nationality of the husband.

2. States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children.

Chinese women enjoy the same rights as men with regard to acquiring, changing, and retaining their nationality. Husbands and wives can both bestow their nationalities upon their foreign spouses, and neither shall force the other party to abandon or change nationality. The Nationality Law of the People’s Republic of China stipulates that foreign nationals or stateless persons who are willing to abide by China’s Constitution and laws and who meet one of the following conditions may be naturalized upon approval of their applications: (1) they are near relatives of Chinese nationals; (2) they have settled in China; or (3) they have other legitimate reasons.

Women have the same rights as men in deciding their children’s nationality. The Nationality Law stipulates that any person born in China whose parents are both Chinese nationals or one of whose parents is a Chinese national shall have Chinese nationality; any person born abroad whose parents are both Chinese nationals or one of whose parents is a Chinese national shall have Chinese nationality; but a person whose parents are both Chinese nationals and have both settled abroad, or one of whose parents is a Chinese national and has settled abroad, and who has acquired foreign nationality at birth shall not have Chinese nationality.

All Chinese citizens, male and female, have the right to change nationality. The Nationality Law stipulates that Chinese nationals who meet one of the following conditions may renounce Chinese nationality upon approval of their applications: (1) they are near relatives of foreign nationals; (2) they have settled abroad; or (3) they have other legitimate reasons.

Article 10

States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in order to ensure to them equal rights with men in the field of education and in particular to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women:

(a) The same conditions for career and vocational guidance, for access to studies and for the achievement of diplomas in educational establishments of all categories in rural as well as in urban areas; this equality shall be ensured in pre-school, general, technical, professional and higher technical education, as well as in all types of vocational training;

(b) Access to the same curricula, the same examinations, teaching staff with qualifications of the same standard and school premises and equipment of the same quality;

(c) The elimination of any stereotyped concept of the roles of men and women at all levels and in all forms of education by encouraging coeducation and other types of education which will help to achieve this aim and, in particular, by the revision of textbooks and school programmes and the adaptation of teaching methods;

(d) The same opportunities to benefit from scholarships and other study grants;

(e) The same opportunities for access to programmes of continuing education, including adult and functional literacy programmes, particularly those aimed at reducing, at the earliest possible time, any gap in education existing between men and women;

(f) The reduction of female student drop-out rates and the organization of programmes for girls and women who have left school prematurely;

(g) The same Opportunities to participate actively in sports and physical education;

(h) Access to specific educational information to help to ensure the health and well-being of families, including information and advice on family planning.

The Chinese Government has always supported the equal enjoyment of the right to education for women. The Constitution, the Compulsory Education Law, the Law on Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests and other relevant laws provide that women enjoy the same right to education as men. The education policy of the Chinese Government is to universalize nine-year compulsory education and improve secondary education, and at the same time develop vocational education, vigorously promote higher education and adult education, and support various kinds of private schools. As of 2002, the enrolment rate for China’s school-age children at the elementary level was 98.58 per cent, with the rate for girls reaching 98.53 per cent. There were 57,381,300 girl students in elementary schools nationwide, or 47.20 per cent of the total; 38,702,000 in secondary schools, or 46.70 per cent of the total; 5,144,800 in secondary vocational-training institutions (including regular vocational secondary schools, adult vocational-training and specialized secondary schools, but not including skill worker schools, or 51.86 per cent of the total; and 3,970,400 in regular higher-education institutions, or 43.95 per cent of the total.

By the end of 2002, more than 90 per cent of the population was covered by the nine-year compulsory education programme in those areas where it was being implemented. In order to realize the universalization of the nine-year compulsory education throughout the country, the Government is giving priority to poverty-stricken rural areas, minority-inhabited areas, children of migrant workers in urban areas and girl children, mainly by taking the following measures:

•Setting up a system to assess, recognize and reward results achieved in implementing the nine-year compulsory education programme. In 1994, the State promulgated methods for assessing and recognizing achievements in the Nine-year Compulsory Education Programme, which set specific targets for the universalization of compulsory education, teacher qualifications, the quality of education and education funding. The Government of each county initiates a yearly self-evaluation process, the result of which is subject to review and verification by Government at the provincial level, as well as to random checks by the Ministry of Education later on.

•Supporting the universalization of compulsory education in poor areas and minority-inhabited regions. In order to expedite the process of universalizing compulsory education, the Chinese Government developed and implemented a Project on Compulsory Education in Poor Areas during the Ninth Five-Year Plan. For this project, the central Government earmarked 3.9 billion yuan renminbi of special funding and 8.6 billion yuan renminbi in matching funds were provided by local Governments, totalling 12.5 yuan renminbi to support poor areas in central and western China in facilitating the promotion of compulsory education. The State organized support activities by implementing projects in which schools in the east coastal areas send aid to schools in poor western areas and schools in cities send aid to schools in poor rural areas within the same province, autonomous region or municipality. Through these projects, qualified teachers and administrators are sent to recipient areas to improve the quality of education. Material and financial support are also provided to help improve school infrastructures in recipient areas. In order to expand the opportunities of education for minority children, therefore, the enrolment rate of these school-aged children, the Chinese Government has also established elementary and secondary boarding schools for minority children from poor and inaccessible mountainous regions, provided free textbooks and set up scholarships.

•Reforming the curriculum of elementary and secondary schools to promote the active and energetic development of all boys and girls. In June 1999, the State Council decided to deepen the reform of the school curriculum, vigorously promote the concept of quality education, and develop the innovative spirit and practical skills of students. The purpose of the reform is to empower the population; by adjusting and redesigning the structure of the curriculum, making it more balanced, comprehensive and varied, it is designed to help students develop individually in a balanced and comprehensive manner. Attention is also paid to the relevance of the curriculum to student’s life and the development of science and technology in modern society, and to the mainstreaming of the gender perspective in curriculum materials. Curriculum administration is carried out at the national, local and school levels, so as to better adapt the curriculum to the needs of the locality, school and student.

•Giving high priority to the education of vulnerable population, i.e. girl children, children with disabilities and children of migrant workers in urban areas. Chinese laws and regulations explicitly provide that girl children, children with disabilities and children of migrant workers in urban areas enjoy the right of equal access to compulsory education. Guaranteeing this right is an important responsibility of the Governments, and requires preferential consideration in the areas of policy and funding. Enrolment and drop-out rates for school-aged girl children are important indicators used in assessing and recognizing achievements in the compulsory education programme. Local authorities have developed need-based teaching materials for girls, focusing on simple and easy-to-learn work skills and local cultures. Flexible teaching approaches are also used to facilitate girls’ attendance at school, such as half-day schools, farm-study schools, and allowing girls to attend school with younger siblings; boarding arrangements are made for girls in mountainous and pastoral areas, and mutual-assistance groups are organized among families in order to guarantee that girls attend school. Through cooperation with international organizations, local authorities have designed education projects for girls, especially courses for girls in junior secondary schools such as farming, animal husbandry, embroidery and computer applications. Such practical skills are intended to help girls develop their abilities to be self-sufficient and to earn a livelihood. In rural areas, enrolment rates for girls are an important benchmark in setting local regulations, as well as in selecting recipients of “Model Family of Five Virtues”, and “Model Village, Model Household” awards.

In 1989, the State set up a special education subsidy for the compulsory education of children with disabilities. As of 2001, this subsidy amounted to 260 million yuan renminbi, while Governments at all levels have earmarked 2 billion yuan renminbi cumulatively for special education subsidies. In order to ensure that children of migrant workers in urban areas have access to compulsory education, special policies and measures have been adopted to help these children overcome the difficulties they encounter in their education. It is provided that the Governments of the receiving cities shall bear the primary administrative responsibility for their education, and that the public schools shall play the primary role in educating the children of migrant workers.

•Mobilizing the entire society to actively support and engage in the compulsory education programme. The Chinese Government encourages civil society to actively support compulsory education by stipulating that enterprises, institutions, social groups and individuals making donations to compulsory education in rural areas can deduct the full amount of such donations from their taxable incomes. All sectors of society have used various kinds of methods to support compulsory education in rural areas and poor regions. Statistics indicate that contributions to compulsory education in rural areas amounted to 31 billion yuan renminbi between 1996 to 2000. The Hope Project launched by the China Youth Development Foundation has raised about 1.93 billion yuan renminbi to build 8,300 “Hope Primary Schools”, helping 2.3 million drop-out children return to schools, and training 2,300 primary school teachers from poor areas. The All China Women’s Federation and the China Children and Teenagers’ Fund jointly organized and launched the “Spring Bud Plan” to support the schooling of girls from poor families. So far, the plan has helped 1.3 million girls return to school. All these initiatives have played an effective role in universalizing compulsory education, raising the enrolment rate of girls and reducing their drop-out rates.

The Chinese Government pays great attention to women’s literacy, making the elimination of illiteracy among women a priority in the advancement of women’s education and empowerment, and has carried out literacy activities to this end nationwide, particularly in rural areas. In collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology, the All China Women’s Federation has implemented a project for women in rural areas, integrating literacy activities with the learning of practical skills. According to statistics, in the 10 years since the project began, nearly 20 million women achieved literacy.

As of 2000, there were 61.81 million adult women illiterates, among whom 15.03 million were young or middle aged, accounting for 4.21 per cent of all young and middle-aged women in China. The Outline of the Ninth Five-Year Plan, the Long-Range Objectives for the year 2010, the Outline on Reform and Development of Education in China, and the Programme for the Development of Chinese Women all set specific targets for literacy among those young and middle-aged women. In this regard, the following measures have been adopted:

•Promulgating the Regulations on Literacy Programmes and methods of assessing and recognizing achievements in eliminating illiteracy among youth and adults. The Ministry of Education has established a Literacy Award to recognize those organizations which have contributed to literacy efforts and individuals who have made significant progress in achieving literacy. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance have also co-established an incentive system to recognize local Governments that achieved outstanding results in their literacy programmes. The All-China Women’s Federation and the Ministry of Education have set up the Women’s Literacy Award, to be presented to organizations and individuals in recognition of their achievements in literacy efforts on behalf of women.

•Integrating literacy programmes with poverty-alleviation efforts. By adopting a policy of promoting development through education and guaranteeing education through economic development, it is hoped that the women’s literacy campaign, especially continuous post-literacy education, will become self-sustaining.

•Establishing a life-long education network for women. To improve the quality of women’s education, a continuous life-long education network for women has been established, beginning with literacy classes, then practical-skills training, followed educational radio-broadcast classes or correspondence classes in rural areas, and culminating in applying for professional or technical function titles to achieve all-round development.

The Chinese Government encourages and supports schools funded and managed by the private sector. In 1997, the State Council promulgated the Regulations on Schools run by the Non-Governmental Sector. These provide that the State shall actively encourage, strongly support, properly guide and robustly administer schools funded by the non-Governmental sector. Local authorities have developed their own rules pursuant to these Regulations. The Standing Committee of the Ninth National People’s Congress considered and adopted the Private Education Promotion Law in December 2002. Under these State policies, non-Governmental schools have developed rapidly and their numbers have increased considerably. In 2002, there were 61,200 privately run schools (including kindergartens, primary schools, regular secondary schools, vocational schools, colleges and other higher-education institutions), an increase of over 32,000 from 1996. Total enrolment was 11,159,700, or 8,085,600 more than 1996.

With the development of science and technology education in recent years, gender disparities in education are narrowing continuously. The proportion of women at all levels of education is increasing; the proportion of female students in secondary vocational schools has been increasing yearly, and surpassed 50 per cent since 1995.

The Chinese Government has devoted much effort to developing higher education. Between 1998 to 2002, the percentage of women students in regular colleges and universities increased annually, from 38.31 per cent (1998), 39.66 per cent (1999), 40.98 per cent (2000), 42.04 per cent (2001), and 43.95 (2002) respectively. Four women’s colleges have been accredited by the Ministry of Education. China Women’s College, Xi’an Peihua Women’s University, Hunan Women’s Vocational University and Fujian Huanan Women’s Vocational College. There are 75,765 women instructors holding positions at or above the level of associate professor, accounting for 30.14 per cent of the total. This reflects the advancement of women in the cultural, scientific and technological spheres, and the numbers of women scientists and engineers are also increasing. Currently, there are over 9.88 million women scientists and engineers, accounting for 36.9 per cent of the total. In 2000, there were 579,000 women engaging in scientific research and general technical services, or 35.2 per cent of the total, reflecting an increase of 1.4 per cent from 1999. In 2001, there were 12,122 women professionals and technicians in the Chinese Academy of Sciences System, accounting for 33.5 per cent of the total. Among them, there were 2,962 women holding senior professional titles, accounting for 24 per cent of the total; 5,721 holding mid-level professional titles, or 47 per cent of the total; 1,416 holding doctoral degrees, or 14 per cent of the total; and 5,106 holding college degrees, accounting for 42 per cent of the total. As of 2002, there were 78 women among the 1,263 members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, representing 6.2 per cent of the total membership, an increase of 0.3 per cent compared with 1996, when there were only 33 women members, or 5.9 per cent of the total. These women members made outstanding achievements in such fields as mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geo-science, mechanical and delivery-system engineering, information technology and electronic engineering, chemical engineering, metallurgy and material science, energy and mineralogy, civil engineering, hydraulic engineering, architecture, agriculture, light industry, textile industry, environmental science, medicine and medical sciences. They have won respect and admiration from all circles of society. Between 1997 and 2001, 1,709 women won such annual national awards as the National Award for Natural Science, the National Award for Technical Inventions and the National Award for Progress in Science and Technology, accounting for 16 per cent of the total recipients or an increase of 4 per cent over that of 1997. Between 1998 and 2001, the percentages of women applying for and being awarded funds for projects funded by National Natural Science Foundation also increased from year to year, with the percentage in 2001 reaching 16.46 per cent, 3 per cent higher than in 1998. New generations of women intellectuals are making prominent contributions in science, education, medicine and public health, poverty-alleviation through science and technology, and the popularization of science and cultural knowledge.

Article 11

1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of employment in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, the same rights, in particular:

(a) The right to work as an inalienable right of all human beings;

(b) The right to the same employment opportunities, including the application of the same criteria for selection in matters of employment;

(c) The right to free choice of profession and employment, the right to promotion, job security and all benefits and conditions of service and the right to receive vocational training and retraining, including apprenticeships, advanced vocational training and recurrent training;

(d) The right to equal remuneration, including benefits, and to equal treatment in respect of work of equal value, as well as equality of treatment in the evaluation of the quality of work;

(e) The right to social security, particularly in cases of retirement, unemployment, sickness, invalidity and old age and other incapacity to work, as well as the right to paid leave;

(f) The right to protection of health and to safety in working conditions, including the safeguarding of the function of reproduction.

2. In order to prevent discrimination against women on the grounds of marriage or maternity and to ensure their effective right to work, States Parties shall take appropriate measures:

(a) To prohibit, subject to the imposition of sanctions, dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy or of maternity leave and discrimination in dismissals on the basis of marital status;

(b) To introduce maternity leave with pay or with comparable social benefits without loss of former employment, seniority or social allowances;

(c) To encourage the provision of the necessary supporting social services to enable parents to combine family obligations with work responsibilities and participation in public life, in particular through promoting the establishment and development of a network of childcare facilities;

(d) To provide special protection to women during pregnancy in types of work proved to be harmful to them.

3. Protective legislation relating to matters covered in this article shall be reviewed periodically in the light of scientific and technological knowledge and shall be revised, repealed or extended as necessary.

The Chinese Government attaches great importance to the issue of the employment of women, and considers the solution of this problem to be an important element in the implementation of the basic State policy of gender equality. The following measures have been taken to guarantee women’s rights in the area of employment:

•Creating employment opportunities and increase job posts. In the process of adjusting the economic, industrial and ownership structures, the State has increased investment in basic industries and public infrastructure to stimulate domestic demand and drive economic growth; vigorously developed the tertiary industry sector, community services and tourism to increase job posts; and encouraged and supported the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and constructed and developed small and medium-sized towns to expand overall number of employment, increase the number of persons employed (including women), and expand the fields of employment available to women.

The number of women working in both urban and rural areas has increased steadily since 1995. Though the number of female workers in State-owned enterprises in urban areas decreased, the overall number increased from 310 million to 330 million in 2000, with the overall percentage rising from 45.7 per cent to 46 per cent. Women’s fields of employment are constantly expanding, moving from traditional fields to emerging new industries. According to provisional statistics, the number and percentage of female workers in the following fields have been increasing: public utilities, telecommunication and postal services, financial and insurance services, real estate, tourism, broadcasting, film and television, public health, sports, and social welfare. At the same time, the number of women working in individual and private economic enterprises has increased by roughly 60 per cent, with the total nearing 10 million. At present, the number of small and medium-sized enterprises registered nationwide with industrial and commercial administration authorities has exceeded 8 million, accounting for 99 per cent of the total, providing about 75 per cent of the jobs in urban areas. The percentage of women working as managers or professional and technical personnel has increased. The percentage of women holding such positions in State-operated institutions and enterprises increased from 39.3 per cent in 1998 to 41 per cent in 2001. Many women have used the opportunities created by reform to assume management and decision-making positions. In 2000, the percentage of women in management positions at enterprises and institutions was 34.4 per cent. Survey results indicate that among the small and medium-sized enterprises registered nationwide, 20 per cent have women as chief managers; 63 per cent of the enterprises operated by female entrepreneurs employ more women than men. Female entrepreneurship has thus created conditions for female employment.

•Promoting the re-employment of laid-off women workers. From 1998 to 2001, with the constant pursuit of economic reform and the gradual establishment of the market-economy system, the number of unemployed and laid-off workers from State-owned enterprises has been increasing, with women accounting for about 45 per cent of the total. In response, policies have been adopted to promote the re-employment of laid-off workers, especially women workers, and reduce their concerns for the future. This approach is driven by economic growth, and supported with enabling policies, market services, Government regulations and social-security services.

Taking the promotion of re-employment as a major strategy, the Government has established re-employment centres nationwide and guaranteed the basic subsistence of laid-off workers. Required funds are raised by a “three-three approach”, i.e. one third is raised through government budgetary allocation, one third is provided by the enterprises themselves, and one third is raised from the public. Through re-employment centres and employment agencies at all levels, a “one-three-one” initiative has been proposed, in which the laid-off workers on the roster of re-employment centres will, within half a year, receive vocational guidance at least once, be provided with employment or job information three times, and receive one free training session. The aim of the initiative is to help laid-off workers develop their abilities to compete in the job market and achieve self-improvement. From 1998 to 2001, labour authorities trained a total of 13 million laid-off workers, about half of whom were women. Public employment agencies nationwide provided job information to 15.06 million laid-off women workers; over 90 per cent of laid-off women workers have received vocational guidance.

In the process of reform and development, the Government attaches great importance to the situation of women, especially the disparity in women’s development caused by the transition from a planned economy to a market economy. Special preferential policies have been adopted, to ensure that men and women enjoy equal opportunities and treatment in obtaining production resources, employment opportunities and public services. The Government focuses its re-employment efforts on laid-off women workers by adopting and implementing preferential policies to provide assistance in respect of employment. For example, units that employ laid-off women workers are entitled to tax reductions or exemptions and social-insurance subsidies; it is required that priority be given to recommending and employing laid-off women workers; and labour authorities provide laid-off women workers with free vocational-skills training and vocational briefings. The Government also provides small loans to laid-off workers who start their own businesses.

The Government uses a multi-level, multi-channel approach to job creation, while paying special attention to developing tertiary-industry and community-service networks. For public-welfare jobs created with government funding, priority is given to workers who have difficulty in getting re-employed because of their age. In this way, some of the older laid-off women workers with limited education and skills can also find suitable employment. According to provisional statistics for the year 2000, 70 per cent of those who found re-employment in their communities were women.

Policy guidance and coordination are being strengthened to ensure the right to work of people with disabilities. As reflected in a document entitled Opinions on Further Promoting Job and Employment Opportunities for Disabled People, which was approved for distribution by the State Council, the Government has decided to continue to support and maintain social-welfare production programmes which provide employment to large numbers of disabled people, and to implement the legal requirement of employing disabled individuals in proportion to the size of the employing unit concerned. At the same time, the Government will strongly support the individual self-employment and voluntary collective self-employment of disabled people, thereby creating a flexible policy environment for guaranteeing the right to work of disabled people. With the priority and support extended by the Government at all levels, social-welfare enterprises managed by civil-affairs authorities have witnessed healthy development. By the end of 2002, there were altogether 35,758 welfare enterprises nationwide, employing 683,000 disabled people, including large numbers of disabled women.

At the same time, the Government is speeding up the reform of the social security system by refining its mechanisms and rules relating to the basic subsistence allowance for laid-off workers. In January 1999, the Government formulated unemployment insurance regulations which provide that laid-off employees of units participating in insurance scheme can receive unemployment compensation payments and medical subsidies. These regulations apply to all types of enterprises, reflecting the broad-based nature of the system. By the end of 2001, 103.55 million workers nationwide were participating in basic unemployment insurance, 108.02 million were participating in basic pension insurance, and almost 80 million were participating in basic medical insurance.

•Strengthening the labour monitoring system to safeguard women workers’ rights and interests and implement special labour-safety measures. In October 2001, the standing committee of the Ninth National People’s Congress considered and adopted the Decision on Revising the Trade Union Law of the People’s Republic of China. The Decision provides for the establishment of women workers’ committees within trade unions, and for punishing violations of the rights and interests of women workers and minors. It also provides that, in cases of violations of the special interests of female workers and minors, trade unions should negotiate on behalf of workers with the enterprises or institutions concerned and request that they take corrective measures. The enterprises or institutions should duly investigate and deal with the alleged violations and provide responses to the unions. If the enterprises or institutions refuse to take corrective action, the unions can refer the case to local courts.

In order to strengthen the labour monitoring system, a total of 3,188 labour protection and monitoring offices have been established nationwide, with over 40,000 monitors. Through the implementation of the Labour Law and the Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women, a system for establishing and standardizing labour contracts and collective contracts is being promoted. Management of labour contracts is enhanced requiring full consideration of female workers’ special needs and that provisions concerning women’s rights and interests are clearly specified in labour contracts signed between employers and workers. When examining and certifying such contracts, labour authorities should ensure that provisions aimed at safeguarding women workers’ rights and interests are included. At the same time, more emphasis is being placed on reforming the wage distribution system within enterprises, so that wage levels are linked to positions held and contributions made, and the principle of equal pay for equal work is applied to both men and women. The Government attaches great importance to the implementation of relevant laws and labour protection regulations by the three types of enterprises established with foreign investment within special economic zones. By the end of 2001, 95 per cent of State-owned and collective enterprises and enterprises established with foreign investment operated under labour contracts, and workers covered by collective contracts numbered over 50 million. Labour-monitoring authorities have also strengthened routine monitoring activities, focusing on working hours, leave systems, special protections for women and the implementation of the principle of equal pay for equal work. Corrective action are taken immediately if any problems are discovered. For example, the labour protection and monitoring authority of the Guangxi Zhuang Nationality Autonomous Region has investigated 3,443 cases involving women workers, and recovered back pay for women workers totalling 3.65 million yuan renminbi. The authority has also accepted 453 labour-dispute cases involving women workers, with a resolution rate of 100 per cent.

•Promoting the establishment of a maternity insurance system. In 1997, the State adopted a maternity insurance plan, to integrate childbirth into the overall planning for the social reproduction. The plan has played a positive role in promoting equal competition among enterprises, improving women’s employment environment and safeguarding women workers’ basic rights and interests during childbirth. A nationwide campaign is being carried out to promote and guide local efforts in this regard, and steps taken include designing a special web page for the maternity insurance scheme, so that relevant national and local policies and regulations and related information can be posted on the Internet. By the end of 2001, over half of the cities nationwide had adopted the scheme, under which workers’ maternity expenses are paid by insurance funds collected through social pools. The number of participating workers reached almost 34.55 million, and 14 provinces, regions and municipalities have developed local laws and regulations on maternity insurance.

•Mobilizing non-governmental organizations and social forces, creating job opportunities and safeguarding the rights and interests of women workers. The Chinese Government respects the rights of trade unions enshrined in the Constitution and other laws, and actively supports trade unions in their work to safeguard workers’ rights in accordance with law. The All-China Federation of Trade Unions has undertaken a series of efforts aimed at providing vocational training to improve the professional and technical skills of women workers, promoting the active participation of the representatives of women workers in enterprises’ decision-making and management, and monitoring and safeguarding the rights and interests of women workers. Trade unions have taken vocational training as part of their regular work. According to a survey undertaken in 27 provinces in 1999, 10.72 million female workers have participated in various types of vocational training, accounting for about 60 per cent of the total number of participants. Taking the dissemination of knowledge of the law and the monitoring of its enforcement as a basic task, trade unions strive to establish and improve their working methods and assist in setting up legal-assistance networks. With the support of the Government and the facilitation of trade unions, a system of consultation on an equal footing for collective contracts has come into wider use. At present, over 80 per cent of the enterprises nationwide have established systems of workers’ representatives conferences, and 80 per cent of the leaders of grass-roots trade unions’ women workers’ committees are members of labour-dispute reconciliation committees. Ninety-two per cent of grass-roots trade unions’ women workers’ committees have participated in collective consultation and bargaining. All of this has resulted in the institutionalization of labour protection for female workers and giving it a foundation in law. Trade unions also investigate problems and oversee their resolution. From 1995 to 2000, 67,000 trade union organizations participated in the formulation of policies on the placement of laid-off women workers. Over 200,000 training courses were held, providing training to almost 1.85 million women workers. Trade unions also monitored and assisted with the placement of 1.09 million laid-off women workers.

Since 1996, through such projects as the Women Entrepreneurship Initiative, the Women Helping the Poor Initiative and Women’s Community Service Project, the All-China Women’s Federation has been developing community services, providing convenience to the public and to help the re-employment of laid-off women workers. Communities, families and the public at large all benefited from these services. For example, Liaoning Province has established 4,500 community-based integrated service centres, and has helped nearly 200,000 laid-off workers obtain re-employment. The All-China Women’s Federation has established re-employment information and guidance centres for women in 31 large and medium-sized cities. These centres collect information on labour markets, keep abreast of re-employment dynamics, provide employment advice and guidance, and establish employment files. Through a variety of training camps for women, the Federation has also provided 5 million laid-off women workers with vocational training geared to the needs of the labour market. At the same time, it actively promotes the creation of employment opportunities by encouraging and helping women to organize themselves, start self-employment and set up small and medium-sized enterprises. Efforts have also been made to raise funds from various sources to provide seed money for poor women to start their own businesses. For example, the women’s federations in Tianjin City, Yunnan Province, Guangxi Autonomous Region and Sichuan Province have raised funds to provide microcredit for re-employment projects in urban areas. In the past few years, women’s federations at all levels have directly assisted 2.06 million laid-off women workers find re-employment.

In recent years, the question of women and employment has become a topic of major concern. In September 2000, a New Century Career Women’s Development Forum was held in Beijing to explore the development prospects of career women. It called upon society to create a policy and public-opinion environment favourable to the equal competition of men and women. In December 2002, the All-China Women’s Federation and Chinese Women’s Research Association co-hosted a forum on Chinese women’s employment. Among the more than 300 participants in the Forum were experts and representatives from Central Policy Research Office, the National Development and Planning Commission, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security Affairs, the People’s Bank of China, women’s organizations, social-sciences research institutions, institutions of higher learning and the International Labour Organization. The Forum focused on ways to improve labour market policies in order to provide equal opportunity to both men and women while promoting the employment of women.

The Chinese Government understands that obstacles still exist in promoting the employment of women and safeguarding women workers’ rights in the area of work and employment. China is a big country in terms of labour resources. Every year, the total number of new entrants to the labour market in urban areas and surplus labourers in rural areas is over 10 million, while millions of others are laid off in the process of enterprise reform. While the industrial structure is undergoing continuous readjustment and employment channels are expanded, the pressure from the labour and employment sector remains huge. The fact that the economically active population has been outgrowing economic development has led to fierce competition in the labour market, and as a result, gender discrimination exists in the employment practices of some departments and enterprises. Moreover, national policies on re-employment have not been fully implemented in some areas. Some laid-off women workers do not possess necessary work skills or have not received the training they need, making it difficult for them to get re-employed. Some private enterprises, village or township-operated enterprises and foreign-capital enterprises have not signed contracts with their women workers and have not implemented the required labour-safety measures; the working conditions of such enterprises are often poor, and violations of women workers’ rights and interests occur. The Chinese Government attaches great importance to resolving these problems, and has adopted long-term strategies for continuous economic development, improving the environment for entrepreneurship, and generating employment opportunities and job positions through multiple channels. The Government is also comprehensively implementing the relevant laws, regulations and policies, so as to gradually overcome these obstacles in an active and pragmatic manner.

Article 12

1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of health care in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, access to health-care services, including those related to family planning.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph I of this article, States Parties shall ensure to women appropriate services in connection with pregnancy, confinement and the post-natal period, granting free services where necessary, as well as adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation.

The Chinese Government, taking as a major strategy the implementation of the Programme for the Development of Chinese Women and the Programme for the Development of Chinese Children, has adopted the principle of Children First and Mothers Safe, given priority to rural areas in its efforts to ensure maternal and infant health, and increased the corresponding financial input. In April 2001, the State Council promulgated implementing methods for the Law on Maternal and Infant Health Care of the People’s Republic of China, which further specifies the various services that medical and health-care agencies are required to provide in this regard, i.e., the dissemination of awareness regarding good maternal and infant health-care practices and related education and consultation services; premarital medical examinations, prenatal diagnoses and hereditary-diseases diagnoses; delivery procedures; medically necessary birth control procedures; neonatal screening; and other reproductive health services relating to fertility, birth control and sterility.

Major measures taken to improve the health of women include:

•Stepping up legislative work regarding health care and strengthening law-enforcement efforts, in order to improve and implement laws, regulations and departmental policies that focus on women’s health. In 2001, the Ministry of Health building on a prior national premarital health survey, amended the 1997 Premarital Health Care Guidelines. The amended Guidelines, issued in June 2002, require relevant institutions to strengthen supervision of premarital health care, improve the quality of premarital medical examinations, and to give services a more human face, so as to provide better premarital health-care services, including premarital medical examinations, health guidance and health consultation. Emphasis is given to the promotion of premarital health care, especially premarital medical check-ups in rural areas, and the strengthening of marriage- and childbirth-related health guidance. In order to protect the health of mothers and infants, improve the constitutions of newborns, ensure the safe and effective use of prenatal diagnosis technology, and standardize the supervision and management of such technology, China has, on the basis of the Law on Maternal and Infant Health Care and its implementing methods, formulated the Methods of Management of Prenatal Diagnosis Technology, which became effective on 1 May 2003. This development marks the beginning of the legal regulation of prenatal diagnosis services in China, and ensures that safe and effective services will be provided to pregnant women. At the same time, on the basis of the promulgation and implementation of the implementing methods for the Law on Maternal and Infant Health Care and in accordance with the spirit of the relevant official documents prepared by the Ministry of Health and transmitted by the General Office of the State Council regarding the improvement of the constitutions of newborns, the Ministry and the China Disabled Persons’ Federation jointly published, in June 2002, the Plan of Action to Improve the Constitutions of Newborns and Reduce Birth Defects and Disabilities. The Plan of Action has established a goal of reducing birth defects by 2010 in China, laid down implementing principles and operational measures in this regard, and has strengthened various health-care measures to that end. Work has also continued on the implementation of the Opinions on the Further Strengthening of Efforts to Eliminate Iodine Deficiency Disorders. With the exception of those living in iodine-rich areas, the population is now taking qualified iodized-salt supplements, and the Guidelines on Oral Iodized Oil Capsules are strictly observed in iodine-deficient areas. Measures have been taken to ensure that newly wedded couples, pregnant women, lactating mothers and 0 to 2-year-old infants are all monitored for their iodine levels and provided with appropriate iodine supplements as needed. Efforts have been made to improve the management of health care during pregnancy and the perinatal period, making nutritional guidance part of the health-care services for new and expectant mothers, and to provide them with guidance regarding the use of nutritional supplements. Additionally, work has been done to enhance the implementation of the Regulations on Labour Protection for Female Workers and Staff, further strengthening the protection of women workers and women in rural areas during pregnancy and striving to prevent them from working in dangerous and hazardous environments. Better guidance is being provided regarding pregnancy, and stricter rules are being observed regarding the use of medications during pregnancy, and newlyweds and soon-to-be-married couples are educated and advised to refrain from smoking, drinking or using drugs.

•Increasing inputs for the construction of a rural health-care services network. From 1995 to 2000, 80 per cent of village- and township clinics, disease-prevention stations and maternal and infant health-care stations were renovated, with 4.2 billion yuan renminbi from the Central Government and more than 20 billion yuan renminbi in supporting funds from local governments, creating the basic structure for a rural health-care services network. By 2000, over 3,000 maternal and infant health-care institutions had been established in rural areas. From 2000 to 2001, the Central Government and local governments appropriated a total of 200 million yuan renminbi for the implementation of a project aimed at reducing the incidence of maternal mortality and of tetanus in newborns in 12 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, in an effort to strengthen the building of obstetrics departments in rural hospitals and the training of local health and medical workers, as well as to assist the dissemination of knowledge concerning maternal and infant health. As a result, maternal mortality in those areas dropped from 129.47 per 100,000 to 92.19 per 100,000 within two years. At present, as many as 72.9 per cent of pregnant women give birth in hospital, an increase of nearly 15 percentage points compared with 1995 due in part to the improvement of maternal health-care services and a comprehensive campaign to promote perinatal health care by means of individual pregnancy health-care records, prenatal check-ups, special management for high-risk pregnant women or mothers, in-hospital births and post-natal visits. Also, 96.6 per cent of out-of-hospital births are now delivered by means of disinfected midwifery, an increase of 9 per cent compared with 1995. Maternal mortality rates nationwide dropped from 63.6 per 100,000 in 1997 to 53 per 100,000 in 2000.

•Carrying out efforts to detect and treat common diseases among women nationwide . The prevention and treatment of women’s health problems has been identified as an ongoing item on the women’s-health agenda at the local level. In the campaign to detect and treat cervical cancer, for example, efforts to ensure the early detection and treatment of the disease are leading to a gradual decrease of its rates of morbidity across the country. In 2001, the incidence of two sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), gonorrhoea and genital warts (80.48 per 100,000 and 63.61 per 100,000 respectively), dropped dramatically as compared with 2000. At the same time, many women’s health-care promotion and education events have been organized, relying on township and village health-care networks to educate rural women about health care, and priority is given to treating diseases which seriously affect the health of rural women. As a result, the incidence of urinary incontinence and uterine prolapse of the second degree or higher gradually decreased from 1996 to 2001.

•Vigorously promoting efforts to strengthen the prevention of STDs and AIDS. From 1985 to the end of 2001, there were a total of 30,736 cases of HIV infection in China. Transmission was mainly through blood, with those infected through intravenous drug use accounting for 68.0 per cent, those infected in the process of blood (plasma) collection accounting for 9.7 per cent; those infected in the process of blood transfusion and injection of blood products accounting for 1.5 per cent; and those infected through sexual contact accounting for 7.2 per cent. Among the infected, 80.7 per cent were identified as men, 18.0 per cent as women and the remaining 1.3 per cent unknown. In recent years, HIV/AIDS has been spreading rapidly in China. It is estimated that the HIV-infected population totalled nearly 1 million by the end of June 2002. The Chinese Government attaches great importance to the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, and the State Council has established a mechanism for holding meetings on the coordination of HIV/AIDS prevention efforts. In 1998, the State Council promulgated China’s Medium and Long Term Plan for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control (1998-2010), which calls on the entire society to participate and strengthen efforts taken in this regard. The Programme for the Development of Chinese Women (2001-2010) and the Programme for the Development of Chinese Children (2001-2010), both promulgated in 2001, have established goals and measures to the same end. In order to effectively reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS and STDs, in May 2001 the State Council issued China’s Action Plan for Reducing and Preventing the Spread of HIV/AIDS (2001-2005), requiring Governments at all levels to formulate their own implementation programmes based on the Plan, clearly define responsibilities and functions, strengthen guidance and oversight, and ensure the realization of all goals in this prevention effort. Since 2001, the Central Government has set aside 100 million yuan renminbi each year for the prevention of HIV/AIDS; at the same time, Government bond funds in the amount of 1.25 billion yuan renminbi have been allocated for the construction or remodelling of 459 blood-collecting stations and blood banks, with a view to ensuring the safety of blood transfusion. Governments at all levels have attached special importance to raising the awareness of society as a whole about the prevention of HIV/AIDS and STDs, with a particular emphasis on educating the migrant population, women and young people about self-protection and personal behaviour. Special attention is devoted to women and children, with an extensive effort to disseminate knowledge about mother-to-infant transmission of HIV/AIDS. At the same time, full play is given to the role of NGOs in addressing the problems facing high-risk groups; associations for STD and HIVAIDS prevention and control, youth federations, women’s federations, trade unions and the Red Cross Societies of China have all been actively involved in efforts to curb and prevent HIV/AIDS; and exchanges and cooperation with international organizations have also been conducted.

•Widely publicizing family planning and providing greater access to family-planning services. In December 2001, China promulgated the Law on Population and Family Planning of the People’s Republic of China, to provide a legal basis for the administration of family planning. The Law adopts an integrated approach, linking China’s population challenge with the need for economic development, poverty elimination, environmental protection, the advancement of women and the improvement of the social-security system in order to achieve sustainable development. The Law embodies the connection between citizen’s rights and obligations in family planning. As stated in Article 17 of the law, “Citizens have the right to reproduce as well as the obligations to practice family planning according to law. Husbands and wives bear joint responsibility for family planning.” Article 3 states, “Population and family planning programmes shall be linked with programmes that expand women’s educational and employment opportunities, enhance their health, and elevate their status.”

In order to protect the reproductive health of women, Article 21 of the same Law stipulates, “Couples of reproductive age who practise family planning shall enjoy, free of charge, the technical services that the State stipulates as basic items.” Article 26 states, “In accordance with applicable State regulations, women shall enjoy special labour protections and be entitled to assistance and compensation during the period of pregnancy, delivery, and breastfeeding.” Article 30 states, “The State shall establish premarital health-care and maternal health-care systems to prevent or reduce the incidence of birth defects and improve the health of newborns.” Article 31 states, “People’s Governments at all levels shall take measures to guarantee citizens’ access to family-planning technical services in order to enhance their reproductive health.”

In order to implement the principle of gender equality and safeguard the rights of women and infant girls, Article 22 of the Law stipulates, “Discrimination against and mistreatment of women who give birth to female children or who suffer from infertility are prohibited. Discrimination against, mistreatment, and abandonment of female infants are prohibited.” Article 35 further states, “Use of ultrasonography or other techniques to identify foetal gender for non-medical purposes is strictly prohibited. Sex-selective pregnancy termination for non-medical purposes is strictly prohibited.” The Adoption Law of the People’s Republic of China, as amended in November 1998, stipulates in its Article 31 that “Whoever abandons an infant shall be fined by a public security organ; if the act constitutes a crime, the offender shall be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with law.”

The Law on Population and Family Planning also includes provisions on social security. Article 24 states, “To facilitate family planning programmes, the State shall establish and improve social-security systems covering basic old-age insurance, basic medical insurance, childbirth insurance, and welfare benefits. In rural areas where conditions permit, various types of old-age support schemes may be adopted following the principle of Government guidance with the voluntary participation of the rural people.”

In pursuing its family-planning policy, China has always adhered to the principle of Government guidance with the voluntary participation of the people. Various forms of promotional and educational efforts have been made, including through the mass media. Since 1998, for example, a nationwide campaign has been under way to promote new concepts regarding marriage and childbearing in all households, such as family planning, gender equality, no preference for boys over girls, and girls’ ability to carry on the family line and eliminate the traditional view of sons as being more advantageous or better than daughters, in an effort to persuade couples of childbearing age to practise family planning voluntarily. Governments at all levels provide training to local family-planning officials, enabling them to achieve a better understanding and grasp of the policies, carry out enforcement efforts in a proper and civil manner, and improve the quality of services by using modern managerial skills and technologies. Actions which violate the legitimate rights and interests of citizens in some areas are promptly stopped and violators are severely reprimanded, punished or even subjected to legal prosecution, depending on the seriousness of the offence.

In June 2001, the State Council promulgated the Regulations on the Administration of Family Planning Technical Services, which stipulates that citizens have the right to make informed choices concerning contraceptive methods. The Government ensures that citizens have the right to access suitable family-planning technical services and emphasizes that birth-control procedures can only be employed “with prior consent of the recipient of the procedure and the recipient’s safety must be ensured.” By the end of 2001, over 40,000 family-planning technical service units had been established across the country, among which were 252 prefecture-level family-planning guidance centres, 2,773 county-level family-planning service centres, and 36,707 township-level service points, staffed with a total full-time force of more than 150,000 technical personnel. Over 17,000 health clinics across the country also have set up family-planning sections, representing a total force of 280,000 technical personnel. There are altogether 60,000 medical and heath-care institutions that provide family-planning services, forming a network to provide relevant services to people of childbearing age, including reproductive health awareness, education, counselling, guidance and follow-up visits, as well as guidance, consulting and clinical services with regard to contraceptive services, family-planning-related operations, the detection and treatment of women’s diseases and the treatment of infertility. Since 1995, the State Family Planning Commission has launched a project for the promotion of high-quality reproductive health in more than 800 counties across the country, representing one third of the total number of counties. The project emphasizes the use of contraception, observes the principle of free choice and safety in induced abortions, opposes the use of forced induced abortions, prohibits illegal induced abortions and the sex-specific termination of pregnancy while stressing the importance of the informed choice of contraceptive methods. Advice is also provided on healthy childbearing and child-rearing, screening of hereditary diseases is conducted, and a “Birth Defects Intervention Project” has been launched.

In its efforts to promote the use of contraceptive methods in recent years, the Government has sought, in the context of special educational programmes for newlywed couples, to formulate qualifications for so-called “Model Families of Five Virtues” and to prevent STDs and HIV/AIDS, to encourage men as well as women to use contraceptives, to eliminate their prejudices regarding vasectomies and condoms, and to encourage wives and husbands to share decisions on the use of contraceptive methods.

In order to address the disproportionately high ration of males to females at birth, China has, in recent years, widely promoted gender equality in both cities and rural areas, in an effort to eliminate stereotypes valuing men over women, encourage people to change their views concerning childbearing, and reduce the psychological and social pressure on families without sons. At the same time, vigorous efforts have been made to implement laws and regulations that enhance gender equality. For example, the newly amended Marriage Law, the Law on Population and Family Planning, the Rural Land Contracting Law and the relevant provisions of the State Council in this regard all have provisions for the protection of women’s rights and interests. They emphasize that the drowning, abandonment and mistreatment of female infants is strictly prohibited, laws and policies relating to women’s land rights are to be implemented effectively, and crimes involving the drowning and abandonment of female infants are to be dealt with forcefully. In rural areas, while families should still bear the main responsibility for taking care of their elderly members, efforts are also being made to explore other forms of security and protection for senior citizens in keeping with the economic conditions of the locality. For example, the “Five Basics” (clothing, food, shelter, health care and assistance) are provided to childless old people who are unable to work. Men are encouraged to stay, after marriage, with the wife’s family if that family has no male heirs; and effective preferential policies and measures have been put in place for such families regarding the allocation of farmland and housing sites, so as to address the practical difficulties such families may experience. At the same time, the administration of birth registration as it applies to the migrant population has been strengthened, so as to reduce the underreporting of female newborns. In the fifth national population census conducted in November 2000, previously unregistered children were recorded regardless of sex.

The Chinese Government has also noted that in many rural areas, especially those with high rates of poverty, there remains a serious lack of health-care facilities and medical personnel, and huge inputs are needed to build the infrastructure required; this is a situation that is not easily changed in a short time. In the mountainous areas, the hinterlands and areas of high poverty, the lack of health knowledge and inaccessibility in terms of transportation result in relatively low rates of in-hospital births (45-65 per cent), with comparatively high rates of maternal and infant mortality as a consequence. The incidence of HIV/AICS is also rising rapidly in China. There are still some people who cling to the traditional view of sons as being more advantageous or better than daughters, especially in areas of high poverty. Owing to the low level of productivity and the lack of information in those areas, changing such attitudes will take some time. With these obstacles in mind, the Government has formulated policies to increase inputs into rural health care, strengthen the training of rural health-care personnel, and promote education efforts regarding health and population issues. The efforts of all sectors of society will be needed in working towards a solution to these issues step by step.

Article 13

States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in other areas of economic and social life in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, the same rights, in particular:

(a) The right to family benefits;

(b) The right to bank loans, mortgages and other forms of financial credit;

(c) The right to participate in recreational activities, sports and all aspects of cultural life.

Between 1995 and 2000, the State established a system to guarantee urban residents’ minimum standard of living by providing regular minimum subsistence allowances for extremely poor families. By 2001, a total of 11.42 million urban residents had received such relief. In recent years, the Ministry of Civil Affairs adjusted these allowances in light of the changes in the socio-economic situation, local standards of living and consumer price levels. Extremely poor families with per-capita incomes below the guaranteed minimum living standards can apply for the allowance in their locality; eligible applicants will receive the minimum subsistence allowance from their local civil affairs authorities. All who need assistance receive it.

The amended Marriage Law clarifies the meaning of community property and adds definitions for separate property and contracted property. Those amendments provided a legal basis for the financial independence of husband and wife as well as for the protection of the interests of women and children in cases of divorce. Article 18 of the amended Marriage Law stipulates, “Any of the following items shall be husband’s or wife’s separate property: (1) prenuptial property in his or her separate possession; (2) expenses such as medical costs and costs of living of the disabled given to one party for his or her bodily affliction; (3) the property going only to husband or wife, as specified in a will or a gift contract; (4) one party’s private articles for daily use; and (5) any other items of property which shall be in his or her separate possession.” In addition, the new provision on contracted property is stipulated in Article 19: “So far as the property acquired during the period in which they are under contract of marriage and the prenuptial property are concerned, husband and wife may agree as to whether they should be in the separate possession, joint possession or partly separate possession and partly joint possession. The agreement reached between the husband and wife on the property acquired during the period in which they are under contract of marriage and on the prenuptial property is binding on both parties.”

Chinese laws contain no discriminatory restrictions with regard to women’s rights to secure loans, mortgages and other forms of credit. Since 1996, in order to help laid-off urban workers to find new jobs and the rural poor to emerge from poverty, the State has budgeted special funds to support re-employment and poverty-alleviation. Many localities provide low-interest or preferential loans geared toward helping laid-off urban women workers find new jobs, and provide preferential or small loans to assist impoverished rural women. These loans are only available to women and are generally underwritten by local women’s federations, which also coordinate with pertinent sectors to provide on-the-job training and other relevant services. In recent years, an extensive campaign has been launched in rural areas across the country to help women in poverty with small loans. For example, from 1997 to 2001, Yunnan Province utilized 1.37 billion yuan renminbi of State funds, poverty-alleviation funds, bank credit, and domestic and foreign aid to provide micro-credit to 115 counties and 890 towns, benefiting 204,649 groups and 987,500 farm households. Of these, 155,000 households received loans through women’s federations, and the loan return rates in all cases were above 95 per cent. As another example, the Municipal Government of Tianjin, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme and the Tianjin Women’s Union, initiated a small-loan programme to assist laid-off women workers to become self-employed. That programme introduced the concept of “enterprise incubator” to the realm of re-employment opportunities, turning the emphasis from placing women in the labour market to guiding them to start their own enterprises. Over the past three years, the programme provided 1,947 laid-off women workers with 84.72 million yuan renminbi of small loans, helping over 4,000 laid-off women get re-employed. The loan return rate was 99 per cent. Over 90 per cent of rural credit cooperatives now offer small-loan services, benefiting nearly 200 million farmers.

While promoting economic development, the Chinese Government has also increased input into such undertakings as radio and television broadcasting, cultural activities and sports. Local arts exhibition halls, recreational centres, and small- and medium-sized sports facilities have been built in many rural and urban areas. During the period from 1990 to 2000, a project was implemented to bring radio and television broadcasts to every village. By 2000, radio and television coverage reached 92.1 per cent and 93.4 per cent of the national population respectively. Most villages maintained recreational facilities and women’s activity rooms to facilitate the participation of a large number of women in cultural and athletic activities. With the promotion of gender equality as a basic State policy and the increased participation of women in political, economic, cultural and social development, women became more aware of the need to participate and be independent, and have created more space for self-development. As indicated by a sample survey of Chinese women’s social status conducted in 2000, women are expanding their sphere of activities and social interaction; a majority of them enjoy autonomy in deciding their own affairs; and their modes of recreation are becoming more diverse. Specifically, 14.2 per cent of respondents made a point of doing physical exercise; 15.7 per cent of urban women and 6.3 per cent of rural women participated in community recreational and sports activities; and 16.1 per cent of urban women and 3.1 per cent of rural women took part in trips or outings. Five per cent of urban women and 0.5 per cent of rural women began using the Internet to obtain information, and 1.2 per cent of the entire female population are urban women who use the Internet on a daily basis.

The Chinese Government attaches great importance to the development of women’s athletics and the improvement of their physical conditions. By adopting appropriate laws and policies, it seeks to promote the use of scientific, enlightened and healthy methods for women to participate in physical fitness activities, enrich women’s cultural and athletic activities, and create a facilitating environment for women’s physical activities. The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Physical Culture and Sports and National Programme for Physical Fitness explicitly provide for the support and encouragement of extensive popular participation, including by women, in sports activities. The Statute of the Chinese Olympic Committee adopted in 2001 includes an article on the active promotion and development of women’s sports. In 2001, the General Administration of Sport and the All-China Women’s Federation jointly organized an event called “Physical fitness for a hundred million women”. Twenty-six provinces and municipalities sent delegations to participate in the event, generating a positive impact throughout the nation. Many provinces and municipalities held women’s fitness contests and sports meets to build momentum for a sustained and nationwide drive for women’s physical fitness. In recent years, with the encouragement of the Government and active support throughout society, women’s athletics have been thriving in China with more and more Chinese women participating in fitness activities. According to a survey in 2001 on the status of mass sports in China, women athletes accounted for 43.4 per cent of the total athlete population and 15.8 per cent of the total female population, an increase of 2.2 per cent compared with 1996.

Chinese women’s performance in competitive sports has been steadily improving. At the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, and the 2002 Asian Games, women athletes accounted for 73 per cent, 66 per cent, 69 per cent, and 45 per cent of the respective Chinese national teams, exceeding the international average for female participation in such events (35 per cent-40 per cent). At the 2000 Olympic Games and the 2002 Asian Games, Chinese women athletes won respectively 59 per cent and 56 per cent of total gold medals. Data show that from the 23rd to the 27th Olympics, Chinese athletes won a total of 80 gold medals, among which 56.9 per cent were won by women athletes. From 1998 to 2002, Chinese athletes who participated in major international competitions won 485 world championships. Among them were 289 women champions, accounting for 59.5 per cent. During the same period, Chinese athletes set 193 world records with 176, or 91 per cent, set by women athletes. In 2002, 17 individuals and 5 teams set world records 33 times in 29 events; among them, 14 women athletes and 4 women’s teams set world records 29 times in 25 events.

The Chinese Government makes great efforts to nurture female administrators in sports. There are 1,550 female cadres in the General Administration of Sport, accounting for 37.8 per cent of the total number of cadres there; among them, 627, or 34.4 per cent, are in administrative posts, and 923, or 43.1 per cent, are in specialized technical posts. Twenty-five of the women officials are at the divisional or bureau level, accounting for 13 per cent of the cadres at that level. There are 50 women serving in various international sports organizations, accounting for about 21.9 per cent of the total Chinese staff in those organizations. As of the end of 2002, female social sports counsellors made up 41.7 per cent of the national total.

Article 14

1. States Parties shall take into account the particular problems faced by rural women and the significant roles which rural women play in the economic survival of their families, including their work in the non-monetized sectors of the economy, and shall take all appropriate measures to ensure the application of the provisions of the present Convention to women in rural areas.

2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in rural areas in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, that they participate in and benefit from rural development and, in particular, shall ensure to such women the right:

(a) To participate in the elaboration and implementation of development planning at all levels;

(b) To have access to adequate health care facilities, including information, counselling and services in family planning;

(c) To benefit directly from social security programmes;

(d) To obtain all types of training and education, formal and non-formal, including that relating to functional literacy, as well as, inter alia, the benefit of all community and extension services, in order to increase their technical proficiency;

(e) To organize self-help groups and cooperatives in order to obtain equal access to economic opportunities through employment or self employment;

(f) To participate in all community activities;

(g) To have access to agricultural credit and loans, marketing facilities, appropriate technology and equal treatment in land and agrarian reform as well as in land resettlement schemes;

(h) To enjoy adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to housing, sanitation, electricity and water supply, transport and communications.

After two decades of reform and opening-up, the agricultural sector and the rural economy in China have achieved historic progress. The economic structure has been continuously optimized; overall production capacity has been improved; agricultural science and technology have realized historic advances; the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors have achieved coordinated development; and the rural labour force has undergone significant changes. During the period from 1998 to 2001, the percentage of rural labour in the nation’s total workforce decreased from 46.2 per cent to 43.9 per cent and the proportion of the workforce in the non-agricultural sector increased rapidly. The number of employees in rural industrial enterprises accounted for 15.5 per cent of total rural labour force. Value added by rural enterprises accounted for nearly one third of China’s Gross Domestic Product. According to provisional statistics, women accounted for over 65 per cent of the workforce engaged in farming, aquaculture, and agricultural-products processing, as well as various types of agricultural enterprises, over 30 per cent of the workforce of rural enterprises and over 60 per cent of the workforce in rural enterprises in China’s eastern region, where the economy has been developing more quickly. Rural women have become the major force in rural economic construction and social development. Through their broad participation in economic and social development, women’s knowledge of culture and science has improved, along with their income and economic and social status have increased, and their mental attitude has changed significantly.

From 1999 to 2000, a new round of land contracting was launched in China’s rural areas based on the demographic changes over the previous two decades. In response to the problem of discrimination against women that has occurred in some areas during this new round of land contracting, the State Council issued a circular concerning effective safeguards for rural women’s rights and interests in land contracting, which requires county Governments to supervise land contracting transactions and immediately remedy any violations of women’s rights and interests in land contracting. In strict compliance with Article 30 of the Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women, a woman’s responsibility fields, fields for growing grain rations and land for housing construction shall remain under protection after she gets married or divorced. In August 2002, the National People’s Congress promulgated the Rural Land Contracting Law, which explicitly stipulates that women shall enjoy the same rights as men in land contracting and management, and that land contracting issues for married, divorced and widowed women shall be properly addressed. Any contract issuer who deprives women of their legal rights with regard to land contracting and management or violate such rights shall bear civil liability for cessation of infringements, restitution, rehabilitation, removal of obstacles, elimination of dangers and compensation for losses. The provisions of this Law provide a concrete legal basis for rectifying violations of women’s rights and interests in land contracting.

In order to adapt to economic globalization and meet the need for agricultural development resulting from China’s accession to the World Trade Organization, the State has formulated a strategy to accelerate the structural adjustment of agriculture and the rural economy, vigorously carry out the industrialization of agricultural production, and actively promote the transition from traditional to modern methods of agriculture. On this basis and in conjunction with the implementation of the Programme for the Development of Chinese Women (2001-2010), the Government has taken the following measures in order to facilitate rural women in facing new challenges:

•Assigning first priority to the improvement of rural women’s cultural and scientific knowledge. Rooted in the concept of developing agriculture through science and education, a project to organize classes for farmers on modern agricultural knowledge and techniques is being implemented through grass-roots centres (institutes) for promoting agricultural technologies. The Ministry of Agriculture, working with the Ministry of Finance and the All-China Youth Federation, is implementing a scientific training project to encourage young farmers to learn and apply science. More than 10 Government ministries, including the Ministry of Agriculture, are also collaborating with the All-China Women’s Federation on a long-term basis in conducting a learning campaign for rural women, in which over 120 million rural women have participated in cultural and practical technology training. During the past two years, building upon this learning campaign, another project has been initiated that involves sending experts and technical personnel to rural areas to promote agricultural technologies. The Government is also strengthening the training of rural women in practical technologies through rural broadcast schools and correspondence schools. These schools enrol women from poor areas free of charge and prepare teaching materials for rural women and ethnic minorities. In 1999, in order to more effectively implement the strategy of developing agriculture through science and technology, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State Forestry Administration and the Poverty Alleviation Office of the State Council, in cooperation with All-China Women’s Federation and China Association for Science and Technology, conducted a project to foster women’s prosperity through science and technology, designed to strengthen the provision of science and technology training and production services for rural women. At present, three major networks for science and technology training, service and demonstration have been formed in rural areas. The country has set up a total of 24,000 science and technology guidance centres for women at various levels, over 60,000 schools for rural women below the county level, 86,000 professional technology associations and professional science organizations with women as primary participants, and over 10 million model households for science and technology application. Since 1999, 5.37 million women have become literate, 63 million women have participated in training for new technologies (of whom 650,000 have obtained the title of agricultural technician), and 1,625,000 women have obtained a certificate of achievement in agricultural technology. Such training has improved the abilities and technological levels of rural women and promoted the development of the rural economy.

•Facilitating the orderly transfer of surplus rural labour into non-agricultural sectors. Through major efforts to develop rural enterprises, promote the industrialization of agricultural production, and develop local economies based on local advantages, the Government is encouraging rural women to move into secondary and tertiary industries; at the same time, in conjunction with the building of small and medium-sized cities, the Government strives to organize the transfer of labour in a planned manner, in order to expand employment channels for rural women. During the past three years, local women’s federations alone have assisted 12 million rural women to transfer to non-agricultural sectors in a well-planned way.

•Protecting the legitimate rights and interests of women employees of rural enterprises. In 2001, there were 6.72 million rural industrial enterprises in China, accounting for 99 per cent of the country’s total. In recent years, the Ministry of Agriculture has attached great importance to improving the rules and regulations governing rural enterprises, and has promulgated among others, regulations on labour administration in rural enterprises, administrative methods for labour health-care services in rural enterprises and an opinion on strengthening the administration of occupational health-care services in rural enterprises. These rules and regulations include strict provisions for monitoring the employment of and the health safeguards for women and minors, and prohibit enterprises from assigning women workers to work in underground mines, to any work involving a Grade IV level of physical intensity, or other work prohibited by law. Enterprises shall not terminate labour contracts with women employees during pregnancy, the prenatal period or while nursing. Trade unions or women’s organizations have also been established in most rural enterprises to help monitor the implementation of relevant laws and regulations. These measures are proving effective in curbing violations of women employees’ rights and interests.

•Improving the living environment for rural women. Since the 1990s, the Chinese Government has pursued the work of improving the water supply and latrine availability in rural areas, an initiative which has helped prevent and contain the incidence and spread of infectious intestinal diseases, reduce the burden on women to fetch water and emancipate their productive energies, develop household market-gardens and family aquaculture enterprises, and increase family income. By the end of 2000, the improvement in the water supply had benefited 881.12 million people in rural areas, accounting for 92.4 per cent of the rural population; 55.2 per cent of the total rural population had access to tap water. 106.59 million rural households or 44.8 per cent of the total, had their latrines upgraded, and the proportion of human waste subject to treatment reached 31.2 per cent. Fundamental improvements have thus been achieved in the living environment of rural women.

•Solving the current problem of regional poverty. As of 2001, there were nearly 30 million rural people living in poverty who did not have adequate food and clothing, and 60 million low-income rural people living just above the subsistence level. The percentage of women was slightly higher than that of men among these populations, which are mainly concentrated in the western regions of China. In 2000, the State formulated a development strategy for the western regions, with a focus on improving the environment for the survival and development of women and children living in mountainous areas, remote border areas and ethnic-minority areas. In order to eliminate poverty, the Government formulated the following policies:

(1)Incorporating the reduction of women’s poverty into the overall national poverty alleviation plan and setting up targets in keeping with local conditions. For example, a nationwide movement for women’s poverty alleviation was implemented to provide support in terms of policy, projects, funding and information. In carrying out poverty relief actions, attention is given to improving the ecological environment, promoting the sustainable development of agriculture, enhancing women’s environmental awareness, and mobilizing women to participate in reforestation and anti-desertification efforts and pollution-free production. For example, the State Forestry Administration and the All-China Women’s Federation jointly launched a “March 8th Green Project” to mobilize women to participate in reforestation efforts, with a view to protecting the ecological environment and promoting the sustainable development of agriculture. In the past three years, around 120 million women all over China have participated each year in reforestation efforts, construction of shelter forest belt and reclamation of river basins; 750 million trees have been planted. In another example, new energy sources have been developed and utilized in a well-planned manner, in order to protect forest areas and reduce deforestation. By the end of 2001, 180 million rural households were using energy-efficient coal stoves, accounting for over 70 per cent of the total number of rural households; 9.50 million methane-generating tanks for household use had been built and 380,000 solar energy stoves put into use. These efforts have not only improved the environment but also reduced the burden of household work for women.

(2)Poverty alleviation through credit and loans is an important aspect of this endeavour. In order to help women living in poverty engage in production and resolve the problem of funds shortages, the People’s Bank of China has decided to support women’s federations in their efforts to provide small loans to rural women. While adhering to credit and lending policies, priority will be given in providing preferential loans to women applicants who meet loan or credit conditions. The Agricultural Bank of China has also arranged special loans to help women escape poverty. In the past three years, women’s federations at various levels around the country have arranged for the issuance of 720 million yuan renminbi in microcredit for poverty alleviation and helped 4.6 million rural women get out of poverty.

(3)Marshalling resources of the whole society to strengthen cultural and technical training for farmers, enhance the capacity of rural women to participate in economic development and combine the development of human and natural resources. Relevant government departments and women’s federations and science associations have conducted various activities to provide training, consultation and on-site guidance on modern agricultural techniques.

(4)Calling upon the entire society to help women living in poverty. For example, a national “hand-in-hand” poverty reduction project mobilizes various social forces to carry out matching efforts to reduce poverty, with well-developed eastern regions helping less-developed western regions. The China Family Planning Association and the China Population Journal jointly launched a project to help mothers living in poverty, which has assisted mothers in 67,000 poor households and benefited 300,000 people. Another project, launched by the All-China Women’s Federation and the China Development Fund for Women to help arid areas in the western regions, has alleviated drinking-water problems for nearly 800,000 people through the construction of cisterns.

(5)Adopting favourable policies and providing funds for ethnic-minority areas and giving priority to those areas in allocating infrastructure projects. In 1998, the amount of general transfer payments by the Government to the five ethnic-minority autonomous regions and the provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Qinghai, where there are large concentrations of ethnic minorities, reached 2.9 billion yuan renminbi, accounting for 48 per cent of the national total. Priority is given to helping ethnic-minority areas develop their cultural, education and health undertakings, and improving the education and health of women of ethnic minority groups. At present, hospitals, epidemic control centres and health centres for women and children have been set up in various autonomous regions, prefectures and counties. Grass-roots health organizations have been established in most pastoral and rural areas, and village doctors, medics and midwives have been trained. In 2000, the rate of enrolment in primary schools in ethnic-minority areas reached 97.44 per cent.

•Devoting major efforts to promote spiritual civilization in rural areas. Activities to raise awareness of law are conducted in rural areas in conjunction with activities to eliminate traditional ideas which discriminate against women, outdated conventions and undesirable customs, while advocating that people should respect the aged and take care of the young, treat men and women equally, aid the poor and give help to neighbours. Focus is placed on combating offences such as domestic violence and abducting and trafficking women and children in rural areas. Special courts, hotlines and complaints centres have been widely set up to facilitate women in filing complaints and brining lawsuits. Infringements upon women’s rights and interests are resolved through village committees, legal facilities and grass-roots women’s federations.

In recent years, the development of the rural economy and the emphasis on building civilized families and communities have created a new culture among families, communities and society in general in rural areas. The spiritual outlook of rural women has changed significantly. They have learned to protect their legitimate rights and interests with legal means; they have changed from believing in their fate to believing in science and in themselves, and from only caring about their own families to caring about their communities and the country. They pursue knowledge, prosperity and development while actively participating in the affairs of society, and have broadened their horizons as well as their minds. According to a survey of the social status of Chinese women in 2000, the degree of women’s interest in public affairs has increased substantially, with 15.1 per cent of women surveyed having put forward suggestions to their work units and communities. The scope of women’s activities and communications has expanded, with 34.5 per cent of the women surveyed having been to other provinces or abroad; only 7.5 per cent had never travelled far from home.

In response to the problem of suicide among women in rural areas, the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization held a special meeting in March 2000 to discuss the causes of and responses to this problem. Representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, the All-China Women’s Federation, the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medical Sciences, the Chinese Institute of Health Education, the University of Agriculture and the United Nations Development Programme participated in the meeting. Analysis of surveys identifies the main causes of suicide as depression or other mental disorders, family disputes, economic hardship, and severe illness, among others. Participants agreed that suicide is a major public-health and social problem, and that the focus in prevention should be on rural areas and comprehensive social support should be provided to rural women.

At present, the health authorities are looking into ways to coordinate various departments in strengthening public health and mental health education, expanding service networks in rural areas, and training grass-roots health workers in the knowledge and techniques for conducting mental-health work so as to provide medical services to patients with mental disorders. The newly revised Marriage Law provides specific measures for resolving family disputes and protecting women’s rights and interests. The national poverty-alleviation plan and its accompanying microcredit initiative, income-generating activities and training efforts for rural women have combined the eradication of poverty with the elimination of ignorance. By strengthening efforts to combat illiteracy and provide scientific training, the plan paves the way for rural women to escape poverty and improve their lives. The development of the rural economy, the improvement of people’s living standards and the construction and strengthening of basic health facilities will also gradually improve the health conditions of rural women. Village committees and village women’s federations are paying attention to helping women with serious family disputes or economic difficulties to resolve their immediate problems. Relevant departments and social organizations are planning to conduct multidisciplinary research on women’s issues in rural areas, carry out pilot suicide prevention and intervention programmes in selected areas, establish a network of crisis intervention centres for rural women, and take effective measures to reduce the risk of suicide among rural women. At the same time, in order to prevent suicide, women should be provided with guidance to strengthen their awareness of legal means of self-protection, broaden their horizons, overcome their pessimism and enhance their psychological ability to withstand stress.

In recent years, the Chinese Government has raised funds through multiple channels in an effort to establish a social security system with social-insurance, social-relief, social-welfare, special care and placement, mutual social-assistance and administrative services as the main elements. In 1991, implementation of the old-age pension system began in rural areas based on the principle that the system be funded mainly by individual contributions, subsidized by the collectives and supported by Government policy. The system is administered in individual accounts. When participants reach the age of eligibility, their old-age pensions are paid out according to rates set in accordance with the principal and interest accrued in their individual accounts. By the end of 2001, 2,045 counties around the country had implemented old-age pension systems with 59.95 million participants and 1.08 million starting to receive pensions. This measure has eased the long-term concerns of the rural population, reduced their dependence on their children and helped eliminate the deep-rooted preference for sons over daughters.

While focusing on modernizing China’s rural areas, the Chinese Government is also aware of the obstacles that still exist. China is a developing country with a population in excess of 1.2 billion; the rural population accounts for 63.91 per cent of the total population. Generally speaking, agricultural productivity is low and regional disparities are significant. In particular, the mountainous, arid, high-altitude and remote border areas in the central and western regions suffer from adverse natural conditions, insufficient infrastructure, low productivity and very limited access to information. Most of the poverty-stricken population live in these areas, and their level of education tends to be low. A large number of women are illiterate, and the traditional idea that sons are better than daughters is still prevalent, inhibiting women’s development. In addition, the acute disparity between China’s large population and its resources and level of economic development constitutes yet another obstacle to attempts by China’s rural areas to shake off poverty and embark on the path of modernization. A radical change in this situation will require long-term efforts.

Article 15

1. States Parties shall accord to women equality with men before the law.

2. States Parties shall accord to women, in civil matters, a legal capacity identical to that of men and the same opportunities to exercise that capacity. In particular, they shall give women equal rights to conclude contracts and to administer property and shall treat them equally in all stages of procedure in courts and tribunals.

3. States Parties agree that all contracts and all other private instruments of any kind with a legal effect which is directed at restricting the legal capacity of women shall be deemed null and void.

4. States Parties shall accord to men and women the same rights with regard to the law relating to the movement of persons and the freedom to choose their residence and domicile.

All laws formulated by the Chinese Government accord equal rights to women and men, and they enjoy the same opportunities to exercise these rights. These laws include the Constitution, Civil Law, Civil Procedure Law, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure Law, Economic Contract Law, Marriage Law, Law of Inheritance, Law on Population and Family Planning and Rural Land Contract Law. There are no discriminatory provisions whatsoever in any law.

Article 16

1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations and in particular shall ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women:

(a) The same right to enter into marriage;

(b) The same right freely to choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and full consent;

(c) The same rights and responsibilities during marriage and at its dissolution;

(d) The same rights and responsibilities as parents, irrespective of their marital status, in matters relating to their children; in all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount;

(e) The same rights to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise these rights;

(f) The same rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship, ward ship, trusteeship and adoption of children, or similar institutions where these concepts exist in national legislation; in all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount;

(g) The same personal rights as husband and wife, including the right to choose a family name, a profession and an occupation;

(h) The same rights for both spouses in respect of the ownership, acquisition, management, administration, enjoyment and disposition of property, whether free of charge or for a valuable consideration.

2. The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage and to make the registration of marriages in an official registry compulsory.

According to the Fifth National Population Census, conducted in 2000, the total population in the mainland of China was 1,265.83 million. There were 348.37 million households, with a total household population of 1,198.39 million and an average of 3.44 persons per household. Compared to the Fourth National Population Census in 1990, the number of households increased by 71.46 million, while the number of persons per household decreased by 0.52 person. According to a 1999 population-change survey, of the population over 15 years old in China in 1999, 74 per cent were married, 19 per cent were unmarried, 6 per cent were widowed and 1 per cent were divorced. In 2001, there were 8.05 million newlywed couples, reflecting a marriage rate of 12.6 per thousand, while there were 1.25 million divorced couples, reflecting a divorce rate of 1.96 per thousand. Since the 1990s, with the enhancement of women’s social status, people have been seeking higher-quality marriages and the concept of marriage has changed dramatically. The divorce rate has shown a gradual increase, but has basically stabilized below 2 per cent. In general, family relations in China are stable.

Table 2Relevant Data on Marriage and Family

	1995	1998	1999	2000	2001
No. of households (millions)	316.76	332.97	341.53	348.37	353.30
Household size (persons)	3.7	3.6	3.4	3.4	3.4
Marriage rate (‰)	16.1	14.5	14.1	13.4	12.5
Divorce rate (‰)	1.8	1.9	1.9	1.92	1.96

The Marriage Law originally in force in China was promulgated in 1950 and amended in 1980. The Law stipulated that a marriage system based on the free choice of partners, monogamy, and equality between man and woman shall be applied, and the legal rights and interests of women, children and the old shall be protected. These principles have played an active role in establishing equal, harmonious and civilized marriage and family relations and in maintaining social stability. However, 20 years of reform and opening-up in China have brought about profound changes in the political, economic, cultural and social spheres, directly impacting marriage and family life. The problems and conflicts relating to the marriage system, assets, divorce and domestic violence have become more apparent and complex. Some of the provisions in the old Marriage Law were too general, and there were no specific norms to address these emerging problems. In 1999, in response to requests from the general public, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress included the amendment of the Marriage Law in the legislative agenda of the Ninth Session of the National People’s Congress, and established a drafting group consisting of the People’s Congress, relevant Government departments, experts and non-Governmental organizations. After two years of extensive consultation with the society as a whole, the amended Marriage Law was promulgated in April 2001.

The amended Marriage Law has been expanded from 37 articles in 5 chapters in the original Marriage Law to 52 articles in 6 chapters. Some 28 additions, revisions and deletions were made in the text. The Law has strengthened the sanctions against bigamy and other acts, made provisions for void or dissolved marriages, strictly prohibited domestic violence, clarified the scope of marital property, and added a provision stipulating that the party not at fault in a divorce shall have the right to make a claim for damage compensation.

To counter the phenomena of bigamy, concubinage, illegal cohabitation and domestic violence that have appeared in recent years, the amended Marriage Law has added two important elements to the General Provisions: one prohibits bigamy and cohabitation of a married person with any third party, and the other prohibits domestic violence and the mistreatment or desertion of one family member by another. It also stipulates the general requirement that husband and wife shall be faithful to and respect each other; within the family, family members shall respect the old and cherish the young, help one another, and maintain equal, harmonious and civilized marriage and family relations.

The amended Marriage Law allows for the invalidation of marriage and specifies the causes and procedure for and consequences of void marriage. For example, article 10 stipulates that marriage shall be invalid if one party commits bigamy; if the man and the woman are relatives by blood up to the third degree of kinship; if, before marriage, one party is suffering from a disease which is regarded by medical science as rendering a person unfit for marriage and, after marriage, a cure is not effected; and if the legally marriageable age is not attained. Article 11 stipulates that in the case of a marriage made under coercion, the coerced party may make a request to the marriage registration office or the People’s Court for the dissolution of the marriage contract; such a request shall be made within one year of the marriage registration date, and the party whose personal freedom has been curbed illegitimately shall make a request for dissolution of the marriage contract within one year of the date on which his or her personal freedom was restored. Article 12 further stipulates that void or dissolved marriage shall be invalid from its inception. Neither party concerned shall have the rights and duties of husband or wife. Property acquired during their cohabitation shall be subject to disposition by mutual agreement. If they fail to reach an agreement, the People’s Court shall issue a ruling on the basis of the principle of favourable consideration for the party not at fault. The disposition of the property of void marriage due to bigamy may not be to the detriment of the property rights and interests of the party to the lawful marriage. The provisions of the Law regarding parents and children shall apply to the children born from the parties concerned.

The amended Marriage Law has refined the law on marital property. It clarifies the scope of community property, allows for separate property and makes detailed provisions regarding agreements concerning marital property. It clearly stipulates that husbands and wives shall enjoy equal rights to dispose of jointly-owned property. In its legal interpretations, the Supreme Court has also clearly stated that husbands and wives enjoy equal rights in the disposition of jointly-owned property. Either party has the right to decide on the disposition of jointly-owned property if such action is part of the normal course of daily activities. Husband and wife shall reach agreement through consultation on an equal basis when either needs to make any important decision on the disposition of jointly-owned property if such action is not part of the normal course of daily activities.

In order to stop domestic violence, the amended Marriage Law also provides for assistance or succour measures and for legal liability, in addition to the explicit prohibition contained in its General Provisions. Article 43 stipulates that in regard to domestic violence towards or maltreatment of family member(s), the victim shall have the right to request that the neighbourhood or village committee as well as the work units of the parties concerned should dissuade the wrongdoer and provide mediation. In regard to domestic violence in progress, the victim shall have the right to request that the neighbourhood or village committee should dissuade the wrongdoer, and the public security organ should stop the violence. If, in regard to domestic violence to or maltreatment of family member(s), the victim so requests, the public security organ shall subject the wrongdoer to administrative penalties in accordance with the relevant provisions governing administrative penalties for public order. Article 45 further stipulates that if the bigamy, domestic violence to or maltreatment and desertion of family member(s) constitute criminal acts, the criminal responsibility of the wrongdoer shall be investigated according to law. The victim may institute a voluntary prosecution in a People’s Court in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law. The public security organ shall investigate the case according to law and the People’s Procuratorate shall initiate a public prosecution according to law. Moreover, over 30 provinces and municipalities have formulated local laws, regulations and policies on the prevention and containment of domestic violence.

The amended Marriage Law includes a provision on damage compensation. Article 46 stipulates that the party not at fault shall have the right to make a request for damage compensation under any of the following circumstances bringing about divorce: (1) bigamy; (2) cohabitation of a spouse with any third party; (3) domestic violence; and (4) maltreatment and desertion.

The Law has also added a specific provision to protect the matrimonial rights of parents in the event of remarriage. Article 30 stipulates that children shall respect their parents’ matrimonial rights and shall not interfere in their parents’ remarriage and postnuptial life. Children’s duty to support their parents shall not terminate with a change in their parents’ matrimonial relationship.

In some divorces, the denial by one party of the other party’s right to visit their children deprives the children of the love of their father or mother, which is detrimental to their development. Thus, article 38 of the amended Marriage Law stipulates that following divorce, the non-custodial parent shall have the right to visit the children, while the other parent shall have the duty to facilitate such visits. The parents shall reach an agreement about how and when to exercise visitation rights; if they fail to reach such an agreement, the People’s Court shall make a ruling. If the visits of the father or mother results in the detriment of the children’s mental or physical health, a People’s Court shall suspend visitation rights in accordance with the law; such rights to be restored if the main reason for the suspension is no longer valid.

Taking account of the fact that many women have difficulties with housing after divorce, article 42 of the amended Marriage Law stipulates that if, at the time of divorce, one party has difficulties supporting himself or herself, the other party shall provide appropriate assistance from her or his personal property, such as a dwelling house. Specific arrangements shall be made between the parties through consultation; if they fail to reach an agreement, the People’s Court shall make a ruling.

The amended Marriage Law also emphasizes the duties of parents to their children. Article 21 stipulates that the drowning of infants, abandonment and any other acts causing serious harm to infants, and infanticide, shall be prohibited. Article 23 stipulates that parents shall have the right and duty to subject their minor children to discipline and to protect them. If minor children cause damage to the State, the collective, or individuals, their parents shall have the duty to bear civil liability. The amended Marriage Law is a more comprehensive and detailed instrument for protecting the rights and interests of women and children.

In order to better help orphans integrate into family and society, China amended its Adoption Law in November 1998. The amended Law explicitly stipulates the legal rights of adopters and adoptees, and has eased the restrictions for adoption and improved the adoption procedure. Article 2 of the amended Adoption Law stipulates that adoption shall be in the interest of the upbringing and growth of adopted minors; the legitimate rights and interests of the adoptee and the adopter shall be protected, in conformity with the principles of equality and voluntariness, and not in contravention of social morality. The minimum age of adopters has been changed from 35 to 30. The Law also stipulates that orphans, disabled children or abandoned infants and children, who are raised in social welfare institutions and whose biological parents cannot be ascertained or found, may be adopted irrespective of the restrictions that the adopter shall be childless and adopt one child only. In the amended Adoption Law, the adoption conditions have been made more reasonable and the adoption procedure more scientific, thus better addressing the best interests of children.

In order to ensure the implementation of the Marriage Law, China is revising the Regulations on Marriage Registration.

In order to create equal, harmonious and civilized marriage and family relations, and building on the long-term “Model Families of Five Virtues” campaign, a national coordinating group for the campaign was set up in 1996. Under the guidance of this group, which is composed of 18 Government departments and non-Governmental organizations, the campaign has been included in the overall national plan for economic, social and cultural development. In recent years, it has carried out a series of regular activities:

•Holding symposiums, seminars and training courses for newly-wed couples, using the media and other means to promote relevant laws and regulations and the environment required for civilized families, and giving impetus to the development of the concept of equal, harmonious and civilized marriage and family. In particular, the campaign has extensively publicized the amended Marriage Law, urging people to become promoters and practitioners of happy and civilized families.

•Carrying out six specific activities designed to establish civilized families: (1) enhancing awareness of the need to protect the environment, eliminate pollution, sort waste and make the living environment green; (2) cracking down on prostitution, gambling and drugs so as to clean up the social environment and maintain social order; (3) organizing study, reading and lecture activities to eliminate ignorance, superstitions and backward customs and traditions, and disseminate scientific and cultural knowledge; (4) organizing a full range of recreational, health care and sports activities to enrich the cultural life of the people; (5) promoting volunteer community activities to help the poor and those in need so as to expand community services and facilitate daily life; (6) evaluate and select the “model families of five virtues”, respect the old and cherish the young, help one’s neighbours and build closer interpersonal relationships.

These activities are welcomed and supported by the broad masses of the people. For example, a home-beautification campaign was launched in Shandong Province, focusing on greening, beautifying and cleaning up the environment and on improving the water-supply system and renovating latrines, kitchens and farmyards so as to ensure the improvement of the environment. During the period from 1999 to 2000, over 10 million water-supply systems and a similar number of latrines and kitchens were upgraded in the Province, along with over 8 million farmyards as well. The rate of latrine improvement was nearly 60 per cent. A 10-day family art festival was also recently held in Gulangyu District of Xiameng in Fujian Province, featuring more than 20 recreational and sports activities, such as singing, drama, dance, calligraphy and painting, photography, talent shows, handicrafts competitions, fashion shows, heirloom exhibits, flower shows, sports meets, character selection and quiz competitions. The festival attracted families from all over the District, helping to enrich people’s cultural lives and building closer family and interpersonal relationships.

A survey of the social status of Chinese women in 2000 showed that 93.2 per cent of women in urban and rural areas were “very satisfied” or “relatively satisfied” with their marriage and family life.

(Unit: 1,000 persons)

Census years	Total population	Sex ratio (female=100)
Both sexes	Male	Female
1953	594,350	307,990	286,360	107.56
1964	694,580	356,520	338,060	105.46
1982	1,008,180	519,440	488,740	106.30
1990	1,133,680	584,950	548,730	106.60
2000	1,265,830	653,550	612,280	106.74

Table A2

Comparison of sex ratio of total population

(Unit: 1,000 persons)

Region	Total population in 2000	Total population in 1990	Sex ratio
Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	2000	1990
National	1,265,830	653,550	612,280	1,133,680	584,950	548,730	106.74	106.60
Beijing	13,820	7,210	6,610	10,820	5,590	5,230	108.97	107.04
Tianjin	10,010	5,100	4,910	8,790	4,470	4,310	103.99	103.63
Hebei	67,440	34,330	33,110	61,080	31,210	29,870	103.67	104.48
Shanxi	32,970	17,060	15,910	28,760	14,960	13,800	107.28	108.39
Inner Mongolia	23,760	12,290	11,470	21,460	11,160	10,300	107.17	108.31
Liaoning	42,380	21,610	20,770	39,460	20,150	19,310	104.03	104.38
Jilin	27,280	13,970	13,310	24,660	12,620	12,030	104.92	104.90
Heilongjiang	36,890	18,860	18,030	35,210	18,050	17,170	104.60	105.14
Shanghai	16,740	8,600	8,140	13,340	6,810	6,540	105.74	104.16
Jiangsu	74,380	37,660	36,720	67,060	34,120	32,930	102.58	103.61
Zhejiang	46,770	24,020	22,750	41,450	21,360	20,080	105.57	106.39
Anhui	59,860	30,890	28,970	56,180	29,030	27,150	106.61	106.89
Fujian	34,710	17,890	16,820	30,050	15,430	14,610	106.35	105.62
Jiangxi	41,400	21,530	19,870	37,710	19,490	18,220	108.31	107.01
Shandong	90,790	45,960	44,830	84,390	42,920	41,480	102.53	103.47
Henan	92,560	47,750	44,810	85,510	43,810	41,700	106.58	105.08
Hubei	60,280	31,380	28,900	53,970	27,830	26,140	108.59	106.46
Hunan	64,400	33,590	30,810	60,660	31,500	29,160	109.02	108.04
Guangdong	86,420	44,020	42,400	62,830	32,150	30,680	103.82	104.81
Guangxi	44,890	23,780	21,110	42,250	22,160	20,090	112.68	110.30
Hainan	7,870	4,120	3,750	6,560	3,420	3,140	109.77	108.92
Chongqing	30,900	16,050	14,850	28,860	14,990	13,870	108.04	108.07
Sichuan	83,290	43,050	40,240	78,360	40,560	37,800	106.98	107.30
Guizhou	35,250	18,470	16,780	32,390	16,770	15,620	110.10	107.35
Yunnan	42,880	22,470	20,410	36,970	19,000	17,980	110.11	105.67
Tibet	2,620	1,330	1,290	2,200	1,100	1,100	102.62	100.13
Shaanxi	36,050	18,750	17,300	32,880	17,070	15,810	108.38	107.97
Gansu	25,620	13,280	12,340	22,370	11,590	10,780	107.59	107.56
Qinghai	5,180	2,680	2,500	4,460	2,310	2,150	107.06	107.64
Ningxia	5,620	2,880	2,740	4,660	2,390	2,270	105.28	105.45
Xinjiang	19,250	9,960	9,290	15,160	7,820	7,330	107.27	106.64

Note: 1990 data are from Major Figures on 4th Population Census of China (manual tabulation), edited by the National Population Census Office.

(Unit: 1,000 persons, %)

Census years	Total population	Han nationality	Minority nationalities
Population	% of total population	Avg. annual growth rate	Population	% of total population	Avg. annual growth rate
1953	582,600	547,280	93.94		35,320	6.06
1964	694,580	654,560	94.24	1.64	40,020	5.76	1.14
1982	1,008,180	940,880	93.32	2.04	67,300	6.68	2.93
1990	1,133,680	1,042,480	91.96	1.29	91,200	8.04	3.87
2000	1,265,830	1,159,400	91.59	1.03	106,430	8.41	1.51

Note: Population from 1953 census excludes population surveyed indirectly.

Table A4

Population of Han and minority nationalities (2000)

(Units: 1,000 persons, % )

Region	Total	Han nationality	Minority nationalities
Population	% of total	Population	% of total
National	1,265,830	1,159,400	91.59	106,430	8.41
Beijing	13,820	13,230	95.74	590	4.26
Tianjin	10,010	9,750	97.36	260	2.64
Hebei	67,440	64,530	65.69	2,910	4.31
Shanxi	32,970	32,870	99.71	100	0.29
Inner Mongolia	23,760	18,830	79.24	4,930	20.76
Liaoning	42,380	35,600	83.98	6,780	16.02
Jilin	27,280	24,820	90.97	2,460	9.03
Heilongjiang	36,890	35,040	94.98	1,850	5.02
Shanghai	16,740	16,640	99.40	100	0.60
Jiangsu	74,380	74,130	99.67	250	0.33
Zhejiang	46,770	46,370	99.15	400	0.85
Anhui	59,860	59,480	99.37	380	0.63
Fujian	34,710	34,130	98.33	580	1.67
Jiangxi	41,400	41,290	99.73	110	0.27
Shandong	90,790	90,170	99.32	620	0.68
Henan	92,560	91,430	98.78	1,130	1.22
Hubei	60,280	57,660	95.66	2,620	4.34
Hunan	64,400	57,820	89.79	6,580	10.21
Guangdong	86,420	85,190	98.58	1,230	1.42
Guangxi	44,890	27,680	61.66	17,210	38.34
Hainan	7,870	6,510	82.71	1,360	17.29
Chongqing	30,900	28,920	93.58	1,980	6.42
Sichuan	83,290	79,140	95.02	4,150	4.98
Guizhou	35,250	21,910	62.15	13,340	37.85
Yunnan	42,880	28,550	66.59	14,330	33.41
Tibet	2,620	160	5.93	2,460	94.07
Shaanxi	36,050	3,587	99.51	180	0.49
Gansu	25,620	2,339	91.31	2,230	8.69
Qinghai	5,180	282	54.49	2,360	45.51
Ningxia	6,520	368	65.47	1,940	34.53
Xinjiang	19,250	782	40.61	11,430	59.39

Table A5

Population growth by nationality

(Unit: 1,000 persons, % )

Region	Han nationality	Minority nationalities
2000	1990	Avg. annual growth rate (%)	2000	1990	Avg. annual growth rate (%)
National	1,159,400	1,042,480	1.03	106,430	91,200	1.51
Beijing	13,230	10,410	2.35	590	410	3.49
Tianjin	9,750	8,580	1.24	260	200	2.70
Hebei	64,530	58,680	0.92	2,910	2,400	1.87
Shanxi	32,870	28,680	1.33	100	80	1.50
Inner Mongolia	18,830	17,300	0.82	4,930	4,160	1.67
Liaoning	35,600	33,300	0.65	6,780	6,160	0.93
Jilin	24,820	22,140	1.11	2,460	2,520	-0.21
Heilongjiang	35,040	33,220	0.52	1,850	1,990	-0.70
Shanghai	16,640	13,280	2.21	100	60	4.84
Jiangsu	74,130	66,900	1.00	250	150	4.80
Zhejiang	46,370	41,230	1.14	400	210	6.30
Anhui	59,480	55,860	0.61	380	320	1.53
Fujian	34,130	29,580	1.39	580	460	2.18
Jiangxi	41,290	37,610	0.91	110	100	1.13
Shandong	90,170	83,890	0.70	620	500	2.04
Henan	91,430	84,500	0.77	1,130	1,010	1.11
Hubei	57,660	51,830	1.04	2610	2,140	1.98
Hunan	57,820	55,850	0.34	6,580	4,810	3.06
Guangdong	85,190	62,480	3.05	1,230	350	12.89
Guangxi	27,680	25,740	0.71	17,210	16,510	0.40
Hainan	6,510	5,440	1.75	1,360	1,120	1.95
Chongqing	28,920	27,380	0.53	1,980	1,480	2.85
Sichuan	79,140	74,950	0.53	4,150	3,410	1.92
Guizhou	21,910	21,150	0.34	13,340	11,240	1.68
Yunnan	28,550	24,630	1.44	14,330	12,340	1.45
Tibet	160	80	6.48	2,460	2,110	1.49
Shaanxi	35,870	32,730	0.89	180	160	1.15
Gansu	23,390	20,510	1.28	2,230	1,860	1.78
Qinghai	2,820	2,580	0.87	2,360	1,880	2.23
Ningxia	3,680	3,110	1.65	1,940	1,550	2.21
Xinjiang	7,820	5,700	3.11	11,430	9,460	1.85

Note: 1990 data are from Major Figures on 4th Population Census of China (manual tabulation),edited by the National Population Census Office.

Table A6

Female participation in political decision-making (1995-2000)

Region	Percentage of female deputies in People’s Congresses	Percentage of female members of People’s Political Consultative Conferences	Percentage of women in Government/ Party leadership	Percentage of female leaders of Government departments	Percentage of women cadres
1995	2000	1995	2000	1995	2000	1995	2000	1995	2000
National	21.03*	21.81*	13.52*	15.54*	6.0	7.8		7.7	33.3	36.2
Beijing	25.3	25.8	25.5	27.4	4.8	13.6	11.2	14.5	45.0	46.4
Tianjin	18.0	19.9	19.0	20.4	0.1	0.1	8.0	8.0	46.0	44.0
Hebei	20.5	20.9	13.5	15.0	10.5	5.3	7.6	7.6	34.8	40.6
Shanxi	23.0	23.4	21.5	21.5		11.8	10.1	8.4	34.6	38.9
Inner Mongolia	23.0	24.3	17.8	19.1	9.5	9.1	7.2	10.8	35.2	39.1
Liaoning	21.1	19.8	16.8	18.8	9.1	10.5	7.0	12.3	40.1	42.7
Jilin	18.0	17.3	17.0	17.1	5.3	11.8	7.5	10.3	38.2	40.0
Heilongjiang	21.2	20.7	11.5	15.9	5.6	10.5	4.9	11.2	37.9	40.3
Shanghai	23.0	23.5	17.0	16.5	14.3	9.1	10.7	12.1	39.6	40.1
Jiangsu	22.0	22.1	14.4	15.3	4.8	0.0	7.8	11.3	29.8	33.4
Zhejiang	25.3	22.7	16.9	18.4	6.3	10.5	6.2	6.6	33.3	38.2
Anhui	22.5	26.0	17.3	19.2	5.9	6.3	6.8	11.1	26.1	29.1
Fujian	21.3	20.1	14.6	17.2	4.8	5.0	3.1	10.6	29.6	34.4
Jiangxi	17.6	22.3	15.8	18.2	5.9	0.0	6.4	9.6	27.1	29.8
Shandong	20.5	20.6	15.5	16.3	5.0	8.3	7.5	8.2	30.1	33.8
Henan	22.0	21.9	14.3	14.6	5.9	5.3	4.9	5.7	30.2	35.6
Hubei	22.2	19.1	17.6	16.2	5.0	5.3	7.8	9.5	30.5	32.8
Hunan	22.0	22.8	14.9	16.9	5.0	5.3	8.1	8.0	30.4	33.5
Guangdong	24.1	24.9	13.1	13.9	8.3	8.7	7.5	9.3	30.6	36.4
Guangxi	24.3	26.7	16.8	17.9	9.5	10.5	9.5	9.8	30.5	34.9
Hainan	20.3	20.7	13.6	16.7	6.7	11.8		5.2	26.3	29.4
Chongqing	21.1	22.2	14.4	17.3	10.0	10.0	8.4	10.4	32.5	36.0
Sichuan	19.5	20.8	15.6	17.2	3.9	8.7	7.0	13.1	32.2	35.2
Guizhou	22.9	23.7	13.7	18.1	8.7	4.6	6.5	9.2	31.4	33.6
Yunnan	20.2	24.3	16.6	23.2	5.6	5.9			31.7	36.0
Tibet	20.0	20.1	15.8	17.5	12.5	8.0	8.3	11.1	31.8	34.3
Shaanxi	19.6	22.8	21.5	21.1	4.8	3.1	2.9	9.1	28.9	32.7
Gansu	20.6	22.9	15.2	14.8	4.8	5.0	6.5	6.6	27.0	29.0
Qinghai	18.8	19.5	9.6	13.5	9.1	5.3		9.5	35.0	36.7
Ningxia	16.2	16.9	18.3	19.1		5.3	5.1	6.3	31.9	35.3
Xinjiang	22.9	22.4	15.9	18.2	3.7	3.9	4.0	6.2	41.4	45.5

( * indicates deputies of National People’s Congress or members of National People’s Political Consultative Conference.)

Table A7

Number of female students by level of regular schools (1998-2001)

(Unit: 1,000 persons )

	1998	1999	2000	2001
Number	% of total	Number	% of total	Number	% of total	Number	% of total
Institutions of higher education	1,305.9	38.31	1,620.6	39.66	2,278.9	40.98	3,023.0	42.04
Specialized secondary schools	2,124.5	52.33	2,278.0	53.60	2,253.6	54.68	2,165.1	55.27
Secondary normal schools	602.0	65.35	596.5	65.89	519.5	67.49	464.3	70.09
Regular secondary schools	28,776.8	45.67	31,092.4	45.92	34,023.8	46.17	36,433.3	46.49
Vocational secondary schools	2,596.9	47.95	2,547.3	47.71	2,373.6	47.17	2,216.5	47.52
Work-study schools	0.6	10.30	0.6	8.32	0.6	7.46	0.6	7.18
Primary schools	66,455.7	47.63	64,548.7	47.64	61,945.6	47.60	59,368.0	47.33
Special-education schools	129.8	36.22	130.9	35.22	135.4	35.87	130.5	33.77
Kindergartens	11,149.4	46.40	10,713.6	46.06	10,340.7	46.08	9,175.2	45.38

Table A8

Enrollment rate, five-year retention rate and dropout rate

of primary-school pupils (1998-2001)

	Enrollment rate ( %)	Five-year retention rate (%)	Dropout rate (%)
National total	Girls	National total	Girls	National total	Girls
1998	98.90	98.90	90.50	91.10	0.93	0.92
1999	99.10	99.00	92.48	92.68	0.90	0.86
2000	99.10	99.07	94.54	94.48	0.55	0.61
2001	99.05	99.01	95.30	95.05	0.27	0.31

Table A9

Number of female staff by level of regular schools

(Unit: 1,000 persons)

	1998	1999	2000	2001
Number	% of total	Number	% of total	Number	% of total	Number	% of total
Institutions of higher education	415.2	40.32	438.1	41.14	456.6	41.03	503.5	41.46
Specialized secondary schools	187.6	43.13	183.6	43.56	174.0	43.73	156.8	44.45
Secondary normal schools	45.3	40.65	43.9	40.96	37.1	41.20	31.6	41.47
Regular secondary schools	1,732.9	37.50	1,827.1	38.44	1,934.0	39.38	2,089.0	40.57
Vocational secondary schools	186.6	39.05	188.0	39.81	180.2	40.33	178.5	41.51
Work-study schools	0.8	30.66	0.8	29.25	0.8	31.53	00.8	30.19
Primary schools	3,026.6	46.96	3,087.9	47.72	3,143.4	48.70	3,208.3	50.29
Special education schools	25.4	61.09	26.9	59.60	25.7	58.79	25.7	66.02
Kindergartens	1,083.9	93.63	1,078.0	93.06	1,059.6	92.60	812.9	94.33

Table A10

Number of female teachers by level of regular schools (1998-2000)

(Unit: 1,000 persons)

	1998	1999	2000	2001
Number	% of total	Number	% of total	Number	% of total	Number	% of total
Institutions of higher education	147.8	36.28	159.0	37.35	177.0	38.24	210.5	39.57
Specialized secondary schools	96.1	44.71	95.8	45.24	92.7	45.50	85.9	46.58
Secondary normal schools	26.4	41.59	26.0	42.00	22.3	42.49	19.7	43.20
Regular secondary schools	1,454.2	39.33	1,550.3	40.37	1,657.4	41.38	1,784.5	42.60
Vocational secondary schools	137.8	41.05	141.5	42.17	137.1	42.86	134.2	43.87
Work-study schools	0.4	29.74	0.4	27.89	00.5	30.07	0.4	29.08
Primary schools	2,846.1	48.91	2,909.7	49.65	2,967.3	50.63	3,023.9	52.16
Special education schools	19.9	66.41	20.4	65.05	20.4	63.69	20.5	72.10
Kindergartens	826.7	94.43	817.0	93.64	802.7	93.72	537.7	98.43

Table A11

Enrollment and completion rates of school-age children in primary schools

Region	Net enrollment rate (%)	Completion rate (%)	Dropout rate (%)
Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls
1990	2000	1990	2000	1990	2000	1990	2000	1990	2000	1990	2000
National	98.5 ( 93)	99.14	96.8 (93)	99.07	70.5	93.1	68.9	93.1	1.49 (95)	0.5	1.49 (95)	0.61
Beijing	99.70	99.96	99.60	99.95		99.84				0.06		0.09
Tianjin	95.60	99.99	95.58	99.99		99.72		99.80		0.02		0.03
Hebei	99.90	99.90	98.10	99.90	76.70	99.40	76.00	99.30		0.51		0.25
Shanxi	88.60	99.70	89.70	99.80		97.80		99.80	1.00	0.40	1.70	0.10
Inner Mongolia	97.00	99.50	98.30	99.50	86.10	90.70	82.40	92.20	2.80	0.80	3.50	0.70
Liaoning	99.26	99.31	98.87	99.33	92.48	94.68	94.07	96.82		0.31		0.22
Jilin	99.20	99.76	98.60	99.81	82.60	93.71	80.90	94.11	1.20	0.35	1.50	0.76
Heilongjiang	98.20	99.50	98.90	98.80	69.60	94.00	71.70	91.40	2.10	0.50	2.10	0.40
Shanghai	99.94	99.99	99.93	99.99	98.05	98.90	98.05	99.62	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.03
Jiangsu	99.60	99.90	98.00	99.90	84.50	90.30	78.90	94.80	0.50	0.75	0.50	0.40
Zhejiang	99.71	99.93	98.76	99.94						0.01		0.02
Anhui	97.10	99.65	99.20	99.68		99.95		97.33		0.38		0.33
Fujian	99.64	99.86	98.50	99.85	98.02	96.45	97.80	98.60	0.59	0.11	0.61	0.05
Jiangxi	99.86	99.55	96.37	99.60	71.40	91.27	62.03	91.92	3.08	0.22	1.10	0.32
Shandong	99.90	99.78	96.70	99.78	72.90	93.87	69.30	95.87		0.32		0.49
Henan		99.83		99.86								0.70
Hubei	99.01	99.49	97.50	99.57	65.48	91.31	62.09	90.07	2.15	0.34	2.47	0.51
Hunan		98.43		98.41	84.20	95.60	80.60	93.11		0.29		0.50
Guangdong	99.12	99.68	98.80	99.71	80.73	99.99	75.93	99.89	1.89	0.09	1.97	0.08
Guangxi	98.61	98.73	95.11	98.61	47.78	91.93	52.63	91.10		0.89		0.79
Hainan	92.20	99.67	98.60	99.74	81.53	83.33	79.83	87.88		2.36		1.62
Chongqing		99.80		99.90		99.20		98.90		0.60		0.60
Sichuan		99.20		98.90						1.40		1.30
Guizhou		98.72	81.59	98.16	48.05	76.71	47.41	76.23	7.65	1.59	8.13	2.12
Yunnan	91.32	99.11		98.91	52.36	85.61	47.88	84.44	4.27	1.32	6.30	1.53
Tibet		88.50		82.90		64.80		87.40		2.60		2.10
Shaanxi	98.49	99.34	97.61	99.42	65.03	92.10	64.48	93.76	3.04	0.64	3.14	0.36
Gansu		99.10		98.60		90.00		87.00				2.00
Qinghai	85.46	93.09	77.11	95.26	44.59	70.92	46.80	70.82	4.86	2.11	4.65	2.18
Ningxia	99.00	98.40	88.10	96.10	74.70	82.90	73.30	78.40	3.10	1.70	2.90	2.30
Xinjiang	98.60	96.90	96.50	97.20	56.70	87.70	56.70	78.50		1.80		1.00

Table A12

Employment in China (1995/2000)

Region	Total number of employed persons (x1,000)	Percentage of women in employment	Percentage of women in employment in urban areas	Percentage of women among registered unemployed persons in urban areas
1995	2000	1995	2000	1995	2000	1995	2000
National	680,650	720,850	45.7	45.3	38.5	38.0	52.6(98)	49.0
Beijing	6,695	6,221	44.6	41.4	38.5	36.0	50.0	53.0
Tianjin	4,897	4,067	42.8	41.7	38.8	38.3	45.0	56.0
Hebei	33,673	34,412	45.7	45.1	42.6	38.6	33.1	54.9
Shanxi	14,604	1,4191	40.0	39.7	36.4	35.1
Inner Mongolia	10,245	10,166	42.5	42.3	33.8	38.4	53.6	53.2
Liaoning	20,340	18,126	43.2	43.2	38.4	38.5	55.3	52.2
Jilin	12,545	10,789	42.5	42.4	41.6	38.9		55.5
Heilongjiang	15,524	16,350	39.6	40.6	40.1	36.1	50.0	51.0
Shanghai	7,680	6,731	46.5	42.3	38.3	39.0	43.7	44.0
Jiangsu	37,654	35,588	48.7	47.6	42.0	39.0		45.9
Zhejiang	27,007	27,005	41.1	42.3	40.5	38.7	37.1	50.4
Anhui	32,068	33,729	46.8	46.3	39.4	35.5	52.0	53.2
Fujian	15,670	16,602	41.1	43.0	37.0	42.8	55.0
Jiangxi	20,592	19,353	45.0	45.3	40.5	36.1	48.6	54.1
Shandong	46,254	46,618	46.9	46.6	37.2	39.2	37.3	50.9
Henan	46,967	55,717	47.5	47.1	38.4	37.4	55.2
Hubei	27,070	25,078	46.2	45.6	36.6	39.2	37.8	44.3
Hunan	35,061	34,621	45.5	44.5	40.3	37.0		51.1
Guangdong	36,568	38,610	45.7	46.7	38.5	42.1	58.7	52.8
Guangxi	23,825	25,304	46.9	46.0	40.5	38.1	49.2	52.2
Hainan	3,353	3,337	46.6	45.7	36.6	40.4	43.5
Chongqing		16,365		46.6		35.2	54.0	52.2
Sichuan	63,353	44,358	47.9	47.3	39.2	35.9	54.0	49.1
Guizhou	18,571	20,459	47.4	46.3	36.9	33.8	57.7	48.9
Yunnan	21,863	22,954	47.3	46.6	33.3	36.7	54.8	48.5
Tibet	1,137	1,234	47.8	47.2	35.4	33.7
Shaanxi	17,744	18,128	45.7	44.9	33.0	35.8	54.2	56.1
Gansu	11,594	11,821	46.1	46.5	35.4	35.1	51.7	52.7
Qinghai	2,260	2,386	45.0	45.8	34.5	36.0	49.7	52.2
Ningxia	2,436	2,744	46.6	45.3	35.8	36.8	51.6	44. 7
Xinjiang	6,622	6,725	44.0	42.8	35.8	41.5	48.9	50.9

Table A13

Female employment in urban units by registration status and region (end of year)

(Unit: 1,000 persons)

Year	Total	State-owned units	Urban collective-owned units	Other ownership units
1994	57,991	39,825	14,511	3,645
1995	58,890	40,590	13,990	4,310
1996	58,833	40,883	13,378	4,573
1997	58,248	40,302	12,710	5,236
1999	46,134	31,280	7,028	7,827
2000	44,113	29,525	6,058	8,530
Region
Beijing	1,556	1,009	129	418
Tianjin	773	421	108	245
Hebei	2,121	1,628	233	261
Shanxi	1,341	993	197	151
Inner Mongolia	1,029	748	117	165
Liaoning	2,317	1,519	424	374
Jilin	1,301	926	212	163
Heilongjiang	2,006	1,450	306	249
Shanghai	1,366	751	146	470
Jiangsu	2,702	1,497	515	690
Zhejiang	1,488	790	187	510
Anhui	1,430	933	286	212
Fujian	1,394	620	130	644
Jiangxi	1,081	833	135	113
Shandong	3,161	1,951	473	737
Henan	2,745	1,669	586	490
Hubei	2,132	1,576	277	278
Hunan	1,694	1,355	218	121
Guangdong	3,196	1,624	412	1,161
Guangxi	1,125	883	113	129
Hainan	321	270	16	34
Chongqing	750	518	110	122
Sichuan	1,898	1,361	241	295
Guizhou	680	540	67	73
Yunnan	1,028	820	97	111
Tibet	60	55	4	1
Shaanxi	1,208	937	127	144
Gansu	723	577	101	44
Qinghai	173	150	17	7
Ningxia	236	188	18	31
Xinjiang	1,079	935	56	88

Table A14

Female employment in urban units by sector and region (end of year)

(Unit: 1,000 persons)

Year/ Region	Total	Farming, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery	Mining and quarrying	Manufac- turing	Public utilities	Construction	Geological prospecting & water conservancy	Transport, storage, post and telecommuni-cations
1994	57,991	2,593	2,294	24,607	758	2,059	343	2,197
1995	58,890	2,526	2,389	24,821	811	2,071	335	2,215
1996	58,833	2,378	2,334	23,917	863	2,081	322	2,279
1997	58,248	2,384	2,225	22,863	903	2,036	326	2,321
1999	46,134	2,015	1,736	15,419	916	1,508	294	1,972
2000	44,113	1,956	1,528	14,253	910	1,440	295	1,933
Beijing	1,556	11	5	352	14	69	4	52
Tianjin	773	03	23	323	12	31	4	28
Hebei	2,121	35	70	649	44	65	23	74
Shanxi	1,341	12	105	346	34	45	8	61
Inner Mongolia	1,029	101	83	232	29	35	10	55
Liaoning	2,317	104	78	812	54	122	15	108
Jilin	1,301	58	102	370	23	50	7	68
Heilongjiang	2,006	222	193	496	47	104	14	99
Shanghai	1,366	12		508	16	32	2	57
Jiangsu	2,702	84	50	1,163	34	52	11	113
Zhejiang	1,488	15	5	540	24	43	4	59
Anhui	1,430	55	72	454	26	46	12	61
Fujian	1,394	33	17	707	23	34	3	41
Jiangxi	1,081	79	35	323	32	29	8	52
Shandong	3,161	28	169	1,332	61	61	12	92
Henan	2,745	32	138	846	71	75	29	116
Hubei	2,132	169	40	669	42	63	23	134
Hunan	1,694	129	40	440	38	42	12	83
Guangdong	3,196	66	14	1,341	59	66	10	139
Guangxi	1,125	65	17	278	27	26	06	48
Hainan	321	120	6	35	7	5	2	12
Chongqing	750	8	24	246	19	29	3	46
Sichuan	1,898	32	71	552	52	100	13	84
Guizhou	680	15	23	180	17	33	4	29
Yunnan	1,028	80	30	217	23	33	7	52
Tibet	60	2	1	4	2	3		3
Shaanxi	1,208	19	42	383	26	40	17	64
Gansu	723	27	23	218	23	33	11	38
Qinghai	173	9	5	29	5	10	6	12
Ningxia	236	22	16	55	7	8	3	10
Xinjiang	1,079	309	35	153	19	56	11	38

Table A14 (continued)

(Unit: 1,000 persons)

Year/ Region	Wholesale and retail trade & catering services	Finance and insurance	Real estate trade	Social services	Health care, sport and social welfare	Education, culture and arts, radio, film and television	Scientific research and techno- logical services	Government agencies, Party agencies and social organizations	Other
1994	8,535	1,045	243	2,131	2,391	5,613	605	2,343	234
1995	8,583	1,113	266	2,152	24,775	5,880	614	2,383	256
1996	8,553	1,201	289	2,216	2,570	6,221	618	2,586	405
1997	8,412	1,281	304	2,304	2,656	6,503	627	2,579	524
1999	5,280	1,404	326	2,115	2,744	6,806	571	2,661	367
2000	4,612	1,412	342	2,104	2,782	6,893	579	2,688	385
Beijing	229	37	41	215	90	217	106	75	42
Tianjin	76	17	8	40	45	109	17	30	8
Hebei	236	64	9	75	121	467	17	164	9
Shanxi	155	45	5	63	81	243	15	112	13
Inner Mongolia	71	35	6	38	60	173	11	81	10
Liaoning	191	79	25	134	140	310	28	94	22
Jilin	115	43	10	65	87	211	15	61	14
Heilongjiang	175	48	14	102	108	254	15	99	17
Shanghai	185	47	27	112	100	172	31	44	22
Jiangsu	344	72	20	107	164	354	24	88	22
Zhejiang	143	79	13	88	123	250	13	77	13
Anhui	192	43	8	63	86	198	12	92	7
Fujian	85	44	10	50	60	206	8	65	8
Jiangxi	118	36	6	34	69	170	11	74	7
Shandong	342	93	16	105	189	441	20	169	30
Henan	345	92	14	105	167	466	26	202	21
Hubei	250	59	14	88	144	274	23	127	11
Hunan	178	63	9	66	129	306	19	126	12
Guangdong	315	118	37	169	200	441	21	172	28
Guangxi	115	34	7	58	88	246	12	86	10
Hainan	21	8	3	22	16	32	5	25	1
Chongqing	70	28	6	28	46	130	18	47	1
Sichuan	181	75	11	68	138	326	32	154	8
Guizhou	75	22	4	23	48	125	7	68	7
Yunnan	111	30	5	50	78	202	15	89	5
Tibet	3	2		3	6	12	1	17
Shaanxi	118	38	5	47	71	210	32	90	6
Gansu	79	20	3	32	40	102	10	52	10
Qinghai	16	7	1	8	14	28	3	17	2
Ningxia	22	9	1	10	15	36	2	17	2
Xinjiang	57	23	4	35	59	184	10	74	13

Table A15

Percentage of female employment in urban units by sector ( 2000 )

Item	Total	State-owned units	Urban collective-owned units	Other owner-ship units
National total	38.0	36.4	40.4	42.4
Grouped by category:
Enterprises	37.9	35.3	39.8	42.4
Institutions	43.4	43.2	46.1	43.9
Organizations	24.3	38.2	36.3
Grouped by sector:
Farming, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery	37.9	38.2	27.7	34.9
Farming	41.3	41.2	45.9	45.1
Forestry	39.0	38.9	43.0	28.8
Animal husbandry	37.4	37.7	32.0	34.8
Fishery	29.3	30.9	30.0	17.2
Services for farming, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery	28.8	29.6	20.1	33.8
Mining and quarrying	26.1	25.4	36.3	25.6
Manufacturing	43.2	38.6	48.9	45.8
Public utilities	32.1	32.3	31.9	30.9
Construction	18.5	20.3	17.5	14.4
Civil engineering	17.5	19.8	15.8	13.6
Powerline, pipeline and equipment installation	25.7	24.1	31.2	19.5
Buildings supply and decoration	19.1	19.4	22.6	16.3
Geological prospecting and water conservancy	26.8	26.8	28.1	23.4
Geological prospecting	27.8	27.7	46.4	21.9
Water conservancy	25.9	25.8	21.9	24.8
Transport, storage, post and telecommunications	28.4	27.8	31.0	31.5
Railway transport	22.9	22.4	52.4	21.8
Highway transport	31.9	33.0	28.2	31.3
Pipeline transport	30.4	30.0	39.8	37.7
Waterway transport	19.5	14.7	28.1	19.1
Air transport	32.5	32.2	50.4	33.6
Transport support and auxiliary services	26.0	25.6	28.7	28.0
Other transport	30.0	30.0	25.8	30.1
Storage	34.2	34.2	43.7	28.8
Post and telecommunications	37.3	36.1	50.8	49.2
Wholesale and retail trade & catering services	45.7	43.6	45.5	52.5
Wholesale trade in food, beverages, tobacco and household goods	41.4	39.9	44.1	47.0
Wholesale trade in energy, materials and electronic equipment	36.3	35.3	40.7	35.2
Other wholesale trade	40.4	42.0	39.7	38.9
Retail trade	51.5	51.2	47.2	60.0
Commercial brokerages and agencies	37.8	39.3	49.6	38.4
Catering services	57.0	57.0	57.9	57.0
Finance and insurance	43.2	42.2	42.2	52.6
Finance	42.7	42.0	42.2	50.8

Table A15 (continued)

Item	Total	State- owned units	Urban collective- owned units	Other ownership units
Insurance	46.9	43.0	32.8	55.6
Real estate trade	34.1	34.6	33.9	33.0
Real estate development and operation	33.5	34.2	32.8	32.7
Real estate management	34.3	34.5	35.7	32.9
Real estate brokerages and agencies	44.0	42.1	44.3	51.5
Social services	43.5	43.8	45.3	41.2
Public facilities services	41.4	43.0	42.9	25.4
Resident services	44.3	43.1	43.9	49.5
Hotels	55.5	55.7	61.6	52.9
Leasing services	35.5	38.5	42.6	26.8
Tourism	45.2	45.9	46.8	43.4
Recreational services	50.0	47.4	52.6	50.6
Information and consultancy services	36.0	34.8	35.2	37.7
Computer application services	32.7	35.0	32.7	31.4
Other social services	29.9	26.4	37.9	30.5
Health care, sport and social welfare	57.0	57.9	50.6	49.9
Health care	58.2	59.0	52.0	59.3
Sports	33.0	32.9	51.7	35.1
Social welfare	41.6	44.4	24.3	51.3
Education, culture and arts, radio, film and television	44.0	44.0	45.4	44.0
Education	44.4	44.4	45.8	45.8
Regular institutions of higher education	40.0	40.0	41.7	35.8
Regular secondary schools	40.4	40.4	44.9	46.0
Primary schools	46.9	47.1	43.7	45.1
Culture and arts	41.9	41.7	42.0	43.0
Radio, film and television	35.2	35.2	32.2	38.5
Scientific research and general technological services	33.2	33.9	29.8	27.6
Scientific research	35.0	35.0	35.5	37.4
Natural science research	34.9	35.0	35.6	38.4
Social science research	36.4	36.4	35.3	48.0
Other science research	34.9	34.9	35.2	30.8
General technological services	31.9	33.0	29.6	27.4
Meteorology	34.6	34.6	40.6	27.7
Seismology	26.7	26.7		20.0
Survey and mapping	29.3	29.3	39.8	23.0
Technological supervision	31.3	31.8	29.3	17.6
Oceanic environment	20.0	20.0		14.3
Environmental protection	39.0	39.7	43.4	29.4
Technology application & dissemination as well as science/ technology exchange services	34.6	35.9	34.4	28.4
Engineering design	32.4	32.6	32.4	29.1
Other technological services	29.3	32.8	25.2	27.5
Government agencies, Party agencies and socia l organizations	24.4	24.3	42.7
Government agencies	24.2	24.2	32.8
Party agencies	21.6	21.6	75.0
Other	37.3	36.2	42.9	36.7
Enterprise management organizations	34.4	31.9	41.7	36.8

Table A16

Reproductive health of women of child-bearing age (1990/2000)

Region	Percentage of married women of child-bearing age using contraception	Pre-natal examination rate	Rate of new midwifery in un-hospitalized child delivery	Rate of hospitalized child delivery
1990	2000	1990	2000	1990	2000	1990	2000
National	90.4 (95)	83.8 (97)	69.7 (92)	89.4	94.0*	95.78	50.6	72.9
Beijing	89.9	88.1	91.1 (92)	97.6	99.7	100.0	83.7	99.6
Tianjin	92.3	91.1	90.2	96.8	100.0	100.0	63.1	99.0
Hebei	90.3	91.5		91.2		99.8	53.3	85.4
Shanxi	90.0	89.5	21.7	89.1	52.8	96.3	43.1	58.9
Inner Mongolia	90.6	93.0	48.5 (93)	92.5	84.9 (93)	93.8	26.7	70.1
Liaoning	90.2	91.3	93.5	97.1	99.5	99.4	53.9	79.3
Jilin	91.4	91.1	86.8	90.8	9407	98.4	52.1	81.7
Heilongjiang	90.9	92.8	36.2	98.7	96.8	98.5	43.2	71.5
Shanghai	91.6	91.1	97.6	99.9	100.0	100.0	99.8	100.0
Jiangsu	90.3	91.9	63.1	94.6		91.2	81.3	98.9
Zhejiang	92.4	91.1	89.8	96.4		95.7	86.7	98.7
Anhui	88.0	91.9	59.0	85.6		96.1	56.0	73.9
Fujian	59.5	89.5	93.0	96.6	97.0	99.5	48.3	89.7
Jiangxi	89.4	90.2	88.5	92.7		97.5	34.6	74.4
Shandong	91.1	90.8	70.0	96.5	99.6	99.6	68.7	96.8
Henan	88.8	90.5	69.3	83.7	93.1	97.4	68.8	77.7
Hubei	86.7	89.4	89.2	91.4	96.0	92.2	38.4	75.7
Hunan	89.1	90.6	41.7	91.3	31.3	95.0	32.4	70.1
Guangdong	87.7	88.5	48.3	93.3		98.0	52.5	80.5
Guangxi	84.9	89.5	70.7	90.4	94.0	92.6	23.8	59.6
Hainan	85.1	86.0	84.4	83.3		66.7	78.9	83.1
Chongqing	91.5	92.3	57.2	92.2		89.5	41.3	67.2
Sichuan	85.6	92.4	30.0	86.8	26.5	87.3	36.0	63.9
Guizhou	86.0	85.0	87.1	80.5	75.7	88.4	19.0	25.8
Yunnan	80.0	82.0	12.7	85.0	29.6	84.2	23.3	48.9
Tibet	20.5	71.7	19.5	62.3	10.6	62.7	3.7	20.1
Shaanxi	89.7	90.6		89.0	88.8	92.0	47.7	74.0
Gansu	86.3	88.1		82.1		82.5		55.3
Qinghai	81.0	83.9	38.0	71.0	68.4	81.0	21.3	38.0
Ningxia	81.5	90.2	48.6	89.8	55.3	95.7	31.5	59.9
Xinjiang	64.9	82.7	52.0	79.0		67.3	44.4	56.6

* 1990 figure includes hospitalized child delivery.

Table A17

Infant, child and maternal mortality rates (1990/2000)

Region	Infant mortality rate (‰)	Mortality rate of children under five years old (‰)	Maternal mortality rate (per 100,000)
1990	2000	1990	2000	1990	2000
National	50.2	32.2	61.0	39.7	88.9	53.0
Beijing	11.7	5.4	13.7	6.8	25.0	9.7
Tianjin	15.3	9.4	18.3	10.6	23.4	18.6
Hebei	36.6	22.6	40.1	24.1	68.6	54.2
Shanxi	39.1	19.9	45.4	23.3	131.2	53.0
Inner Mongolia	57.2	32.3	63.8	35.6	147.7	62.6
Liaoning	29.8	15.9	30.2	18.2	64.8	27.8
Jilin	30.7	14.5	38.9	15.8	58.0	34.7
Heilongjiang	45.0	29.2	53.9	36.2	59.9	24.5
Shanghai	11.0	5.1	15.3	6.9	15.3	9.6
Jiangsu	31.2	11.2	38.5	14.6	50.2	28.5
Zhejiang	25.0	15.6	26.7	17.4	42.0	19.6
Anhui	47.8	29.0	67.6	34.7	100.0	48.4
Fujian	36.1	20.1	45.7	24.5	60.0	30.7
Jiangxi	55.0	34.8	74.0	43.3	108.0	50.0
Shandong	37.0	18.3	42.7	20.5	60.8	25.4
Henan	46.5	30.5	56.2	34.4	100.2	54.2
Hubei	39.1	21.9	50.5	26.8	130.0	47.5
Hunan	51.5	23.7	63.1	28.1	87.4	54.8
Guangdong	33.6	16.8	42.3	21.7	88.3	31.5
Guangxi	61.3	27.3	77.2	32.2	143.7	60.3
Hainan	42.8	33.4	51.1	42.2	66.9	45.9
Chongqing	48.9	28.8	62.6	41.3	157.3	86.1
Sichuan	68.4	43.0	89.3	57.9	160.1	88.2
Guizhou	65.1	38.8	98.4	48.8	269.7	141.7
Yunnan	53.1	33.1	87.3	42.1	191.0	95.5
Tibet	91.8	35.3	126.7	57.2	715.8	466.3
Shaanxi	45.0	32.4	55.1	35.6	130.8	66.3
Gansu	55.3	28.9	68.4	36.0	315.9	108.8
Qinghai	60.7	41.0	88.6	51.9	243.0	142.0
Ningxia	49.2	27.4	57.6	32.9	123.0	85.8
Xinjiang	69.0	55.5	96.0	65.4	270.0	161.4

Table A18

Maternal mortality rate by region (per 100,000) (1995/2000)

Rate in 1995	Region	Rank in 2000	Region	Rate in 2000
16.9	Shanghai	1	Shanghai	9.6
18.6	Tianjin	2	Beijing	9.7
22.3	Beijing	3	Tianjin	18.3
23.7	Zhejiang	4	Zhejiang	19.6
31.5	Shandong	5	Heilongjiang	24.5
36.3	Jiangsu	6	Shandong	25.4
39.4	Heilongjiang	7	Liaoning	27.8
40.8	Fujian	8	Jiangsu	28.3
42.4	Hainan	9	Fujian	30.7
44.6	Jilin	10	Guangdong	31.5
45.6	Liaoning	11	Jilin	34.7
45.8	Jiangxi	12	Hainan	44.3
46.4	Guangxi	13	Hubei	47.5
53.1	Guangdong	14	Anhui	48.4
55.7	Henan	15	Jiangxi	50.0
59.3	Hunan	16	Shanxi	53.0
61.8	Hebei	17	Henan	54.2
64.3	Anhui	18	Hebei	54.2
78.8	Shaanxi	19	Hunan	54.8
82.1	Hubei	20	Guangxi	60.3
93.3	Chongqing	21	Inner Mongolia	62.6
98.7	Shaanxi	22	Shaanxi	66.3
108.1	Ningxia	23	Ningxia	85.8
118.8	Inner Mongolia	24	Chongqing	86.1
120.0	Sichuan	25	Sichuan	88.2
141.3	Gansu	26	Yunnan	95.3
158.2	Guizhou	27	Gansu	108.8
191.0	Yunnan	28	Qinghai	142.0
217.7	Qinghai	29	Guizhou	156.4
260.0	Xinjiang	30	Xinjiang	161.4
326.4	Tibet	31	Tibet	466.3

Table A19

Percentage of rural population with access to tap water, and regional rankings by percentage of rural population with latrine access as of end of 2000

Percentage of rural population with latrine access	Ranking	Percentage of rural population with access to tap water
%	Region		Region	%
44.84	National average		National average	55.22
92.67	Shanghai	1	Shanghai	99.9
70.42	Beijing	2	Beijing	98.23
65.20	Guangdong	3	Tianjin	83.64
63.73	Zhejiang	4	Zhejiang	83.20
62.03	Fujian	5	Jiangsu	74.98
59.19	Shandong	6	Hebei	73.43
56.25	Hubei	7	Shanxi	73.38
55.42	Qinghai	8	Fujian	71.19
53.62	Henan	9	Guangdong	70.30
51.50	Jiangxi	10	Xinjiang	66.99
49.70	Jilin	11	Chongqing	59.30
48.61	Hainan	12	Liaoning	59.18
45.80	Hunan	13	Shandong	57.16
44.62	Heilongjiang	14	Qinghai	55.22
41.41	Guangxi	15	Yunnan	54.29
40.40	Liaoning	16	Hubei	54.00
40.14	Anhui	17	Heilongjiang	49.96
39.52	Yunnan	18	Hainan	49.89
37.04	Shaanxi	19	Henan	48.94
35.87	Chongqing	20	Guangxi	47.55
35.50	Gansu	21	Hunan	45.99
34.42	Hebei	22	Guizhou	43.57
32.55	Shanxi	23	Sichuan	39.21
30.64	Xinjiang	24	Jiangxi	38.22
29.80	Inner Mongolia	25	Anhui	36.83
29.49	Jiangsu	26	Shaanxi	35.29
27.23	Tianjin	27	Jilin	35.26
26.84	Sichuan	28	Gansu	32.69
21.77	Ningxia	29	Inner Mongolia	30.81
10.43	Guizhou	30	Ningxia	29.64

Note: No data is available for Tibet.