G(irls)20 promotes jobs for women

Twenty-four women chosen for their experience and learning ability attended Beijing summit

Hong Xinyu, a 20-year-old college student from East China, says her dream is to see more Chinese women succeed as entrepreneurs.

Hong, China's representative at the G(irls)20 Summit in Beijing on Aug 9, told the international gathering that her plan is to open a workshop to help women who are unable to access training in management and leadership.

"Chinese women still don't have enough opportunities to achieve career success," she says. "One important reason is that many of us lack leadership ability and entrepreneurship."

Twenty-four young women from G20 member countries - chosen for their experience, ambition and learning ability from more than 1,700 applicants - joined this year's summit.

G(irls)20, established in 2009, is an organization based in Canada that is devoted to promoting greater female participation in the global workforce.

Farah Mohamed, head of the organization, says China stands out internationally for producing impressive examples of powerful women, particularly the field of business.

"We have women being promoted to senior-level jobs. We don't have enough, but we have more," she says. "Didi Chuxing (the ride-hailing company), which has just acquired the China business of Uber, is run by a woman. That's incredible, and we need to see more of that."

A report last year by Hurun, the Shanghai wealth research firm known for its China Rich List, showed that eight of the world's top-10 richest self-made women are from China, compared with two from the United States.

Zhou Qunfei, who heads touch-screen maker Lens Technology, stormed to the top of the list with her $7.8 billion fortune.

The young women at the meeting on Aug 9 shared ideas on how to increase female participation in the global workforce.

The G20 has agreed a global "gender gap goal" that intends to create more than 100 million jobs for women across member nations.

According to the International Labor Organization, between 1995 and 2015, the proportion of women in the global workforce fell from 52.4 to 49.6 percent. Worldwide, the opportunities for women to participate in the labor market remain almost 27 percentage points lower than for men, according to the ILO.

Hong, a sociology major at Renmin University of China, is determined to push the mission forward.

"I'm very interested in spending time with children. I'm also an amiable person. I will focus on elementary education of underprivileged groups," she says.

suzhou@chinadaily.com.cn