Thirty years on, Beijing Declaration inspires women’s empowerment from China to the Global South

Thirty years ago, the landmark Fourth World Conference on Women of the United Nations was held in Beijing, adopting the visionary Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action—a watershed moment for gender equality whose call still resonates today. In the coming days, global leaders will reconvene in Beijing for the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women, reaffirming this ongoing commitment.

China‘s own contribution to that call is already orbiting Earth. In December 2021, astronaut Wang Yaping delivered China’s first live science lesson from the Tiangong space station, demonstrating zero-gravity experiments to students on Earth. Her journey—from a rural village in Shandong Province to space—mirrors China’s broader progress in women’s empowerment and serves as a metaphor for the rising “she-power” radiating across the Global South.

Wang’s ascent was not happenstance but the result of decades of policy-driven support. Since the founding of the People’s Republic, “equality between men and women” has been a constitutional principle and core State policy, reinforced by laws such as the Law on the Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests and the Employment Promotion Law, systematically dismantling barriers to women’s advancement. Following the 1995 World Conference on Women, gender budgeting became embedded in national development plans, turning principle into propellant for women’s achievement across grassroots communities and the highest echelons of science.

The impact is evident across society. Women have long outnumbered men in undergraduate programs. In the economy, they account for over 40 percent of the workforce and 37.7 percent of corporate board seats. Politically, women now constitute 26.54 percent of deputies in the National People’s Congress, up 10 percentage points in three decades. In health, China’s maternal mortality ratio has fallen to historic lows, ranking among the best in upper-middle-income countries. From astronauts and village secretaries to scientists and CEOs, the ceiling has become the sky.

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China’s commitment extends beyond its borders through South-South cooperation, partnering with Global South nations to advance women’s development. This includes expertise in maternal and child health, building schools and health facilities through the Belt and Road Initiative and Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), and running vocational training programs such as Luban Workshops to equip women with modern skills. Aid has been replaced by partnership, empowering women to shape their own destinies in line with the Beijing Declaration’s vision. The ripple effects are visible: Namibia recently elected its first female president, Madam Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, while Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan and other African leaders demonstrate the growing political stature of women across the continent.

Reflecting on her mission, Chinese astronaut Liu Yang said she saw “no borders, only one family.” Women’s empowerment, she suggested, is the gravity that can hold this global family together. The upcoming Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women in Beijing offers an opportunity to reinvigorate that partnership. As the Global South rises, the unleashed potential of women will remain an indispensable force for building a more equal, inclusive, and prosperous world—a community with a shared future for humanity. This is “she-power,” and it is heading to the stars.