During my frequent trips to China, I am continually impressed that an increasing number of individuals in the upper echelons of business with whom I meet are not men but women.  Although Chinese women still face many challenges, for the past decade their political and social status has been on the rise and is still growing.

With the encouragement of the Chinese government, the presence of Chinese women in political and social affairs has become a common occurrence.  Women have official government positions in nearly all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities; their number represents some 36.2 percent of the total.  Local governments also have been broadening opportunities for women, including projects aimed at reducing poverty and encouraging women to open their own businesses.  And in the brief period from 1995 to 2000 improved educational opportunities paved the way for the schooling of 13.4 million illiterate Chinese women.  The result of these combined factors has led to an increase from 280 million employed women in 1990 to 330 million in 2000.  This accounts for 45 percent of China’s total employment!

So one can begin to understand why a person doing business in China, particularly since 1995, will come in contact with many more women in positions of importance.  In fact, statistics show that one in five entrepreneurs in China are women.  Especially with the newly emerging service industries – community work, tourism, health care and insurance – as well as the urban and industrial restructuring and the development of China’s western provinces, the number of women entrepreneurs continues to expand.

Concurrently, Chinese women are not resting on their laurels, or on (at least at first glance) the position in which their relatively recent ascent has placed them.  Evidence of this are numerous meetings and conferences organized by women and for women.  A recent example was the two-day July leadership conference in Beijing jointly sponsored by the All-China Women’s Federation, the largest and most influential women’s network in China which was founded in 1949, and the International Women’s Forum, the world’s foremost women’s organization which was established in the United States in 1982.  More than 150 women from five continents met to discuss and emphasize the importance of further promoting women to top-level decision-making positions during this century of economic internationalization.

Yet all is not so clear-cut about the rise in the position of China’s women in business.  For example, the recent ascent of women’s colleges that address international etiquette would seem at first glance to be a plus in terms of giving women a further step-up in the international marketplace.  However, China is a country that for centuries had placed a higher regard on a woman’s social graces and beauty than on business acumen.  So there is a fear that this renewed emphasis on internationally-acceptable femininity might once again dwarf the recent gains in women’s power by creating exquisite Chinese “dolls” who might be viewed as trophy employees rather than internationally knowledgeable ones.  Take one entrance requisite at Shanghai Normal University Women’s College, China’s first state-funded so-called “finishing school.”  On the assumption that foreign public relation companies will not hire women who are not tall and attractive, Shanghai Normal University accepts girls only if they are 1.62m [5-foot 3-inches] or taller for their women’s college courses. 

The businesswomen with whom I have been associated in China seem to be doing admirably well.  Their homes, husbands and extended families appear to be faring the sea changes of political and economic tides effectively.  But it behooves all of us interested in international business to understand what even these higher-ranking women are still facing as they join the men in helping China to become one of the world’s leading economic powers.

Richard King, Chairman Emeritus of WoodburyUniversity, Director, Pacific Rim Programs at Woodbury University
Chairman/Founder King International Group 626-792-4729