Beijing Women's Federation

The seventh Beijing Municipal Conference on the Work for Women and Children convened in the capital city on November 22. Xia Linmao, Member of the Standing Committee of Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Executive Deputy Mayor of Beijing and Director of Beijing Municipal Working Committee on Children and Women, addressed the conference. Liu Shengguo, Deputy Secretary-General of the People's Government of Beijing Municipality and Deputy Director of Beijing Municipal Working Committee on Children and Women, presided over the event.

Zhang Yajun, Deputy Director of Beijing Municipal Working Committee on Children and Women and President of Beijing Women's Federation (BWF), conveyed guiding principles of the important instructions and speeches made by General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping on women and children as well as the spirit of the seventh national conference on the work for women and children (held in September). Officials from Beijing Municipal Health Commission, Beijing Municipal Education Commission and Dongcheng district gave speeches about relevant work they have done.

Noting that the issue of women and children is an integral component of the cause of the Party and the country and that it concerns the future of the country, Xia said that General Secretary Xi has attached great importance to the cause and given a series of important instructions and addresses since the 18th CPC National Congress. She added that the important instructions and addresses by Xi have charted the right direction and provided fundamental guidance to the high-quality development of the work for women and children in the new era.

Xia said that Beijing Municipal Party Committee and the municipal people's government will firmly implement decisions and policies of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, integrate the work for women and children with the capital city's comprehensive development, strive to rank among the best across the country in the development of women's and children's affairs, help women achieve all-round development on an equal footing, and create a social environment that children come first and grow healthily.

Xia said that Beijing should focus on key work points and push for the high-quality development of the work for women and children in the standards that match its political functions as a capital city. First, the municipal government will support women to fully get involved in its economic and social development, guarantee their equal employment rights, promote the development of women talents, help women make full use of their strengths in rural revitalization, and effectively protect their lawful rights and interests. Second, the government will take utmost efforts to promote the healthy growth of children, improve their physical and mental health, advance the balanced development of the basic education, accelerate the building of a child-friendly city and strengthen the protection of the minors. Third, the capital city will further bolster the development capabilities of families, optimize affordable nursery service systems, pitch for efforts to expand the scale and enhance the quality of household management sector, and implement the Family Happiness and Well-being Project.

Xia said that all districts, all government departments and public institutions should look at the work for women and children from a big picture, and improve the working mechanism on women and children under the Party's leadership. The governments shoulder major responsibilities, the working committees on children and women should coordinate, and departments should cooperate, with full public involvement. More specifically, they are expected to follow the Party's leadership in the whole process and all aspects of the work for women and children. The governments at all levels should take forceful measures to ensure the completion of each target and task in the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25). All government departments should engage in discussions and find solutions to major and difficult problems concerning women and children within the scope of their work in a timely manner. Beijing Municipal Working Committee on Children and Women should give full play to its functions like organization, coordination, guidance and oversight and its office should leverage its roles in communication, coordination and services. Xia also asked women's federations and other mass organizations to make full use of their functions and work harder to usher in new frontiers toward the work for women and children on the new journey in the new era.

Those in attendance of the conference included officials from the general office and the research office of the People's Government of Beijing Municipality, directors, deputy directors and members of the district-level working committees on children and women, and staff members of the offices of both municipal-level and district-level working committees on children and women.