On October 8, 2025, an article by Ambassador Wu Wei titled “Empowering Women’s Well-Rounded Development, Lighting up a Better Future Together” was published in The Kaselehlie Press, the bi-weekly newspaper in the FSM, in its Vol. 25 and Iss. 21.

The full text is as follows:

The 10th Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) National Women’s Conference was successfully held in Chuuk State from September 27 to October 4, 2025. I extend my heartfelt congratulations. This significant event provided a national platform for women across the FSM to engage in meaningful dialogue and pool consensus on advancing gender equality and women’s well-rounded development. It was my honor, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy, to provide some funding assistance to the 10th FSM National Women’s Conference, contributing our support for women’s development in the FSM.

There’s a Chinese saying that goes, “Women hold up half the sky.” Over the past two years since taking office in the FSM, I’ve deeply felt that women are at least as capable as men in the FSM. FSM women play an irreplaceable and unique role in family life, national construction and social development. As H.E. Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, pointed out, women are creators of material and spiritual wealth and represent an important force driving social development and progress. Without women, there would be no continuity of the human race or the human society. Thumbs up for all women!

In 1995, China hosted the Fourth World Conference on Women, organized by the United Nations. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted at the Conference became a milestone in the global pursuit of gender equality. Over the past three decades, China has acted on the spirit of the 1995 Conference and made historic achievements in women’s development in China. We have upheld gender equality as our basic state policy and carried out national action plans dedicated to the well-rounded development of women. Countless outstanding women have become role models of our times, making their important contributions to Chinese modernization.

I would like to share with you the extraordinary stories of two ordinary Chinese women. Ms. Wang Peiling was from a poor peasant family. When she was a kid, her mother became severely disabled in the leg accidentally, and then the family fell on hard times. Depressed and disappointed about the future, she received financial assistance from the Spring Bud Project, a public welfare initiative launched by the All-China Women’s Federation and the China Children and Teenagers’ Fund and committed to improving education for girls from impoverished families. Supported by the government, she was admitted to the first Spring Bud Class at Beijing Bailie University. After graduation, she started as an ordinary office worker and now becomes a co-founder of an international trading company, devoting herself to China’s economic development. Education has changed her life, and helped her achieve a remarkable turnaround.

Another story is about Ms. Hou Youlin, a post-90s. Coming from a poverty-stricken background, she dared to fight for a better life and went alone to work in Yiwu (best known for hosting the Yiwu International Trade City, the world’s largest wholesale market for small commodities), where she learned techniques, business marketing and management. With the strong support of local government, she returned to her hometown and established a handicraft workshop. Local rural women who stay behind to care for families while their husbands work in cities went to the workshop to learn embroidery and beading techniques. After learning the techniques, they were allowed to take the raw materials home for free, made the products while taking care of their families, and got paid for delivering finished products. The “business on the fingertips” keeps expanding with 3,000 local rural stay-behind women involved. Poverty alleviation workshops have been set up in 21 villages and 7 manufacturers have established long-term cooperative relationships. The products cover multiple categories including 3D beads, diamond paintings, cross-stitch embroidery and shoe insoles. The business increases revenues for the local by more than RMB 1 million per month on average.

Stories like those of Ms.Wang Peiling and Ms. Hou Youlin are being played out every day in China in the new era. The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core has integrated China’s work related to women into the overall planning and promotion of Chinese modernization. The women’s development path with Chinese characteristics has shown vigorous vitality and unique advantages and contributed another vivid example of China’s governance to the world with fruitful practical results.

Women’s cause is an integral part of state governance. China’s national development plans have clarified the strategic tasks for women’s development. China has established a mechanism for work related to women, under which the whole of society participates. China has established a legal system anchored in the Constitution and centered on the Law on the Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests. China insists on protecting women’s rights and interests in the process of development and relies on development to improve women’s livelihood. As a matter of fact, China is recognized by the World Health Organization as one of the ten fast-track countries in women’s and children’s health. In China, women account for over 40 percent of the country’s workforce, and more than half of China’s Internet start-up businesses are set up by women. Women account for nearly half of the successful candidates in the cultural talent program under the National Cultural Talent of Excellence Initiative. From large-aircraft development and biomedicine to deep-sea missions and AI, women are visible and vital across every frontier of science and technology. Women participate in and actively contribute to the whole-process people’s democracy and social governance. More than 690 million Chinese women have ridden the wave of China’s sustained, high-speed development, devoting themselves to the great endeavor of Chinese modernization. Braving headwinds and breaking new ground side by side, they have together composed a new chapter in which Chinese women bloom in full flower.

Women around the world have a shared future. China’s endeavors concerning women are an integral part of the global cause. China upholds the concept of a community with a shared future for humanity and fulfills its obligations under international conventions. China supports the United Nations in prioritizing women’s development. In partnership with UNESCO, China has co-established the UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education. China successfully hosted the Fourth World Conference on Women. China provides humanitarian assistance to women and children caught in conflicts and disasters. China has maintained friendly exchanges with more than 420 women’s organizations in more than 140 countries around the world, expanding the “circle of friends” for women’s cooperation. China has implemented empowerment projects worth more than USD 40 million in more than 20 countries, cultivated more than 200,000 female talents in more than 180 countries and regions, and provided employment assistance for women in more than 100 countries. These are concrete actions to eliminate the gender gap. The just-released white paper titled China’s Achievements in Women’s Well-Rounded Development in the New Era gives a systematic overview of China’s philosophy, principles, and innovative practices in promoting gender equality and women’s well-rounded development in the new era, highlights Chinese women’s outstanding achievements, and contributes China’s wisdom and experience to the global endeavors for women’s advancement. The Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative, and the Global Governance Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping are being continuously transformed into practical actions to promote women’s well-rounded development around the world.

The Chinese Embassy in the FSM will facilitate more women exchanges and cooperation between our two countries and welcome more and more women delegations to visit China in the future.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women. To implement the important initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping, China will soon host a Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women in Beijing, working with all parties to write a new chapter in the global progress of women. Thirty years ago, Beijing witnessed the determination of women around the world to pursue equality. Thirty years on, all parties will gather in Beijing again to chart the course for women’s development worldwide. China stands ready to work with countries around the world, including the FSM, to jointly pledge greater efforts to empower more women to achieve their dreams and fulfill their lives, making new contributions to advancing the world toward a bright future of peace, security, prosperity and progress! Beijing welcomes you!