Gender issues in the transition to a market based system in China

Abstract

China had a long history of feudal and then semi-colonial and semi-feudal society before the foundation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. Women in China experienced two waves of emancipation signifi cant for moving towards gender equity. One occurred in 1898–1911 when the Reform Movement and the Revolution banned feet binding among women, promoted education for females and advocated equal rights for men and women in political affairs. The second was the upsurge of women’s participation in social production and political life in the New China after 1949 while polygamy ended and prostitution was eliminated (Du Jie & Nazneen Kanji 2003). The Government led by the Chinese Communist Party solemnly declared that women had equal rights with men in all political, economical, cultural, educational and health aspects. These rights were formally entitled in the Constitution of PRC, under which the Marriage Law of 1950, the Election Law of 1953 and other legislations further entrenched specifi c rights of women. The All China Women’s Federation (ACWF) network covered all villages and production units. The proportion of women representatives in the fi rst National People’s Congress was 11.9 % in 1954 and increased to 22.6 % in 1975 of the forth Congress (Ding Juan 2006).