At upcoming CCP congress, will women cadres be promoted to high offices?

Beijing

China’s biggest political event is all set to take place on October 16, when members of the Chinese Community Party (CCP) will assemble in Beijing for the once-every-five-year national congress to vote for new leadership.

On that day, Chinese President Xi Jinping will most likely be voted for another five-year term, which is unprecedented in the country’s history, and be declared the ‘Chairman’ of the CCP—a post only held by the founding father of modern China, Mao Zedong.

Though a change in top leadership is expected, the same cannot be said about the women party members hoping to make a mark.

Studies have shown that the women cadres are often handed out stereotypical roles such as education, civil affairs, and in mass organisations. While the more high-profile portfolios such as economics, finance, industry and technology are assigned to men.

According to government statistics, there are only 30 women in the 371-member Central Committee, which elects the Politburo – China’s highest policymaking body. The number has not increased, rather at times it has fallen below the average, reports South China Morning Post newspaper.

It further highlighted that there has never been a female member of the Politburo Standing Committee, the leadership’s highest decision-making body,

So far, only two women have managed to be in the top tier of the party structure.

Wu Yi, a vice-mayor of Beijing, became deputy minister of foreign trade and economic cooperation in 1991. She was appointed to the Politburo in 2002 and became a vice-premier the following year.

Another woman to have risen through the ranks is Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan. She is the sixth woman to be a member of the Politburo and the highest-ranking woman in China’s current leadership but is all set to retire in the upcoming congress session.

Also read | China’s Xi all set to usurp Mao-era ‘Chairman’ post at upcoming party congress: Report

Experts argue that there may have been very few examples of women cadres rising through the ranks.

A professor who teaches Chinese politics at the Australian National University told the newspaper that it takes at least 15 to 20 years for a female party member to reach the highest office.

“Once the quota has been filled [in each department], we rarely see additional efforts made to promote more female cadres,” Fengming Lu was quoted as saying.

He further said that that women cadres were less likely to be considered for first-in-command positions than their male counterparts.

(With inputs from agencies)

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