CHINA'S MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMEN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 000753 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR S/WE (SASHA MEHRA, GERDA LANE) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KWMN CH SUBJECT: CHINA'S MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMEN REF: A. STATE 202341 ¶B. STATE 178055 ¶1. Post is pleased to provide the names and thumbnail backgrounds of five women we consider the most influential in China (Ref A). Although women in China enjoy equal rights under law, in reality they often face considerable obstacles to advancement. The women we mention below have overcome these hurdles and are making significant contributions to women's empowerment and to China's social, political and economic development overall. ¶2. Our five most influential women for China are: ¶A. Wu Yi, Vice Premier in charge of economic affairs. Wu is credited with steering China on the right public health path during the SARS crisis in 2003 and is now the head of China's delegation to the Strategic Economic Dialogue. She can be contacted via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office of North America and Oceania Affairs, tel. (8610) 6596-2610. ¶B. Chen Zhili, State Councilor in charge of education, culture and sports. Chen was one of the first Mainland students to study in the United States in the Communist era. Preparations for the 2008 Summer Olympics fall under her purview. She can be contacted via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office of North America and Oceania Affairs, tel. (8610) 6596-2610. ¶C. Liu Yandong, President of the United Front Work Department. Liu is an up-and-coming official with connections to President Hu Jintao. She presides over the government agency that is in charge of minority and regional relations within China and she likely has a bright future. She can be reached via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office of North America and Oceania Affairs, tel. (8610) 6596-2610. ¶D. Hong Huang, head of the China Interactive Media Group. Hong's mother was Mao Zedong's English teacher. She has become a style trendsetter as a dynamic Chinese media mogul. Her publishing empire includes the Chinese version of TimeOut Beijing, Seventeen and I-Look magazines. She also has a popular blog on the Chinese web portal Sina.com. She can be reached at (86) 139-0137-9546. ¶E. Zhang Yin, China's richest woman and the head of the Nine Dragons Paper Company. Zhang has been featured in a bevy of recent foreign media stories, including in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. She made billions by building a waste paper reprocessing business in China that currently has two plants and boasts more than 7,000 employees. She can be reached at tel. (0769) 8823-4888, ext. ¶3025. Alternate: Song Xiuyan, Governor of Qinghai Province. Song is the sole woman governor of a Chinese province. She leads public policy decision making in a vast province with limited resources and considerable poverty. She can be reached through the Qinghai Province Foreign Affairs Office, tel. (0971) 823-9606. Alternate: Guo Jianmei, Director of the Beijing University Women's Legal Aid Center. Under Guo's leadership, the Center has helped draft legislation, which the National People's Congress has passed, banning sexual harassment in China. Guo and her team test this and other laws by taking on individual cases with a view to codifying women's rights in law and increasing awareness of discrimination issues. She can be reached at tel. (8610) 8483-3276. Alternate: Xie Lihua, Secretary-General, Cultural Development Center for Rural Women. Official statistics show that as up to 450 million women in China are rural residents, many of whom live in the country's poorest areas. Through her organization, Xie builds partnerships between the private and public sectors aimed at improving the lives of women beyond China's boomtowns. She can be reached at tel. (8610) 6619-4191, or e-mail Lihua xie@263.net. Alternate: Hu Shuli, editor in chief of the influential biweekly Caijing Magazine, which aspires to be China's version of The Economist. Hu encourages her reporters to constantly push the editorial envelope. As a result, Caijing regularly runs groundbreaking exposes that reveal corruption and other misconduct in Chinese officialdom and among the business elite. She can be reached at (8610) 6588-5047. ¶3. Political officer Chris Klein handles the women's issues portfolio at Embassy Beijing. Contact info: (8610) 6532-3831, ext. 6742, or e-mail kleincc@state.gov. BEIJING 00000753 002 OF 002 RANDT