From Xinhua:
China will have more women deputies to the next National People’s Congress (NPC), or parliament, according to a bill being discussed at the ongoing annual session of the 10th NPC.
The bill, to be put for voting next week, says that “the proportion of women deputies to the 11th National People’s Congress should be no less than 22 percent.”
The percentage of women deputies in China’s top legislature has stayed at around 20 percent since the election of the Fifth NPC deputies in 1978.
Although it only concerns a rise of two percentage points, the proposed change was still warmly hailed by lawmakers attending the current annual session.
“This is the first time that the ratio of women deputies has been clarified. I believe it will help increase women’s influence on major polices and reflect women’s rights and appeals,” said Zhang Meilan, a woman NPC deputy from the remote southwestern province of Yunnan. [Full Text]
