Senior officials on Wednesday hailed Hong Kong's achievements in women's development as "blossoming with a unique charm of the times", pledging to leverage the city’s strengths to facilitate global exchanges on women and family affairs.
The fourth edition of the Women Power Forum on Wednesday brought together hundreds of women leaders from six countries and regions, as well as 10 overseas women's organizations. Delegates shared their stories and expertise in politics, science, academia, business, finance, and sports.
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Senior officials including State Councilor Shen Yiqin, who is also head of the National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council and president of the All-China Women's Federation, attended the forum.
Addressing the event, Huang Xiaowei, vice-president and first member of the Secretariat of the All-China Women's Federation, said that Chinese women have contributed significantly to the nation's development and modernization, particularly with their outstanding achievements in sci-tech. Hong Kong women, in the city's stable and inclusive development environment, have also "blossomed with a unique charm of the times", Huang said.
She cited significant gains in women's political participation, as over half of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government's bureau directors and permanent secretaries are women. Women also account for over half of the city’s certified public accountants and lawyers, while almost all listed companies have female board members. Hong Kong has also seen a rise in outstanding female scientists helping build the city into an international innovation hub.
Also at the event, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said advancing women's development is a shared responsibility of the international community, and a move that aligns with the nation's advocacy.
He also noted that the second Hong Kong Family and Women Development Summit, held on Tuesday, brought together family and women policymakers from central and local authorities, international organizations’ representatives, and prominent figures in related fields as speakers, attracting over 1,200 participants.
Wednesday’s forum, themed on strengthening cooperation between Chinese and foreign women for common development, also provided global women leaders a platform for exchange.
“These events fully reflect Hong Kong's cohesion and influence in advancing women and family issues,” Lee said.
He said that under the "one country, two systems” framework, Hong Kong enjoys unique advantages in connecting the Chinese mainland with the rest of the world, and pledged that the SAR will continue to play a bridging role in facilitating exchanges between the nation and the international community on women and family affairs, making greater contributions to the country's development.
At the forum, Angellah Jasmine Mbelwa Kairuki, minister for Communication and Information Technology of the United Republic of Tanzania, shared the role Tanzanian women play in the digital economy and technologies like artificial intelligence, and explored how new technologies can better empower women to work more efficiently.
During an exclusive interview with China Daily on the sidelines, Kairuki noted that Hong Kong is a hub for international talent with advanced expertise in areas like information and communication technology as well as fintech. She said she hopes that Tanzanian professionals, startups and academics — including women — will have more opportunities to exchange ideas and learn from their counterparts in Hong Kong.
Eileen Gu, Olympic champion in freestyle skiing and a globally influential young athlete, shared stories of being inspired and shaped by women such as her mother in her life, as well as her journey breaking boundaries for female athletes on the slopes and the mutual support she shared with fellow female athletes. Her speech drew rounds of applause from the audience.
In a group interview afterward, she described Hong Kong as “an amalgamation” of people, cultures, stories and history, and said it is “a fantastic host city for an event like this”.
She said she learned from and was inspired by the other remarkable women who organized and spoke at the conference, adding that the events showed her new ways to connect with other women.
Ida Xue contributed to this story.
Contact the eriter at amberwu@chinadailyhk.com
