China's Xi urges support to women, pledges $10M to UN fund

ISTANBUL

China’s President Xi Jinping on Monday called for global support for the development of women and stressed that it was a shared responsibility of the international community, pledging $10 million to the UN fund.

Xi also made four proposals to support the global women's cause, including to “build a wider consensus, open up broader pathways, and take more practical actions for this cause."

He was addressing the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women in Beijing, the state-run media reported, marking the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing held in 1995.

Noting that women's all-round development “is still facing complex challenges,” he also proposed “jointly establishing a governance pattern to protect women's rights and interests, and writing a new chapter in promoting global women's cooperation.”

Xi said that over the next five years, “China will donate an additional 10 million US dollars to UN Women, and China will earmark 100 million dollars from the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund for cooperation with international organizations on projects to promote women's and girls' development.”

“China will support 1,000 small and beautiful livelihood projects for women and girls as the priority beneficiaries, and invite 50,000 women to China for exchange and training programs,” he added.

Xi announced that China will also establish a center dedicated to promoting global women's capacity-building, through which it will carry out cooperation with relevant countries and international organizations to cultivate more outstanding female professionals.