Beijing Women's Federation

In April this year, the Beijing Women’s Federation and the General Women’s Union of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reached an important consensus on strengthening exchanges and cooperation between women entrepreneurs from China and the UAE. To further promote friendship between women of the two countries and support the development of bilateral relations, the Beijing Women’s Federation recently hosted an eight-member high-level delegation from women’s business councils across the UAE’s emirates. The delegation visited EVE Group, a women-founded enterprise, and Beijing-based women entrepreneurs participated in a China-UAE women entrepreneurs exchange event, creating a platform for mutual learning and practical cooperation.

On the afternoon of October 21, Zhou Zhijun, Secretary of the Leading Party Members’ Group and President of Beijing Women’s Federation, welcomed the delegation at EVE Group. Zhou introduced the federation’s functions and the overall progress of women’s development in Beijing. She noted that China and the UAE have a solid foundation for friendly cooperation among women, and expressed the federation’s willingness to take this exchange event as an opportunity to deepen friendship, expand cooperation and build platforms for women to connect across more fields, thereby supporting their common development.

Xia Hua, Chairwoman of EVE Group, thanked the Beijing Women’s Federation for creating a platform for women entrepreneurs to connect and cooperate. She highlighted how the company leverages the fashion industry as a vehicle to create employment opportunities for women from ethnic minority communities in China and to integrate traditional handicrafts into contemporary fashion.

The delegation toured the innovative ethnic costume display area, the digital business section, the “Deep Mountain Market” cultural and creative exhibition, and the professional attire showcase. They learned how the company combines the preservation and inheritance of ethnic handicrafts with digital technologies and market-oriented development, enabling women artisans from ethnic minority communities to work from home and increase their incomes.

Amina Hamadi, Deputy Ambassador of the UAE to China and Chair of the UAE-China Women Entrepreneurs Council, spoke highly of the creativity of Chinese women and the fine craftsmanship of Chinese products. She said China’s experience in empowering women entrepreneurs and promoting women’s participation in economic and social development offered valuable lessons for the UAE, and expressed hope that more women’s delegations from the UAE would visit China.

On October 19, the Beijing Women’s Federation organized representatives of the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Beijing to attend the “She Power” exchange event, jointly hosted by the General Women’s Union of the UAE and the UAE Embassy in China. Five women entrepreneurs from the association, including its President, Lin Qiaoling, participated in the event, representing sectors such as investment, trade and chemicals.

Drawing on their entrepreneurial experiences and business strategies, Chinese and Emirati participants exchanged views on issues of shared interest, including market access rules for cross-border cooperation, policy support for women entrepreneurs, cooperation in culture and tourism, and trade in specialty products. They also held one-on-one matchmaking discussions tailored to their respective companies’ development needs.

This series of exchange events represents a concrete action by the Beijing Women’s Federation to promote people-to-people diplomacy between women in China and the UAE and serves China’s overall diplomatic agenda. It showcased Beijing women’s remarkable achievements in entrepreneurship and innovation and offered vivid examples of women’s all-round development, while creating an effective platform for dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation between women entrepreneurs from the two countries.

Going forward, the Beijing Women’s Federation will leverage Beijing’s strengths as an international center for exchanges to expand and deepen exchanges between women in China and the UAE, promote more substantive cooperation, and enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples of the two countries.