Article Entitled 'Working Together to Create a Brighter Future for Women' by Chinese Ambassador to Dominica Chu Maoming Published

On October 17, H.E. Chu Maoming, Chinese Ambassador to Dominica, published a signed article titled Working Together to Create a Brighter Future for Women in Dominica's mainstream newspaper The Chronicle. In the article, Ambassador Chu introduced the outcomes of the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women and the meeting between Chinese President H.E. Xi Jinping and Dominican President H.E. Sylvanie Burton, and looked ahead to the future of enhanced China-Dominica cooperation on women's empowerment and the joint building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

Full Text：

On October 13, the much-anticipated Global Leaders' Meeting on Women opened in Beijing. As the Chinese Ambassador to Dominica, I had the honor to accompany H.E. Sylvanie Burton, President of Dominica, to attend this grand event and witness her joining President Xi Jinping and other national leaders in discussing the theme "One Shared Future: New and Accelerated Process for Women's All-round Development," charting the course for cooperation and progress.

The most important outcome of the Meeting was my President H.E. Xi Jinping's keynote speech, in which he put forward four proposals on women's all-round development and announced five concrete measures to support the global cause of women.

The four proposals are: to jointly foster an enabling environment for women's growth and development; to jointly cultivate powerful momentum for the high-quality development of women's cause; to jointly develop governance frameworks to protect women's rights and interests; and to jointly write a new chapter in promoting global cooperation on women.

The five concrete measures include: China will donate another US$10 million to U.N. Women; earmark a quota of US$100 million in China's Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund for implementing development cooperation projects for women and girls in collaboration with international organizations; launch 1,000 "small and beautiful" livelihood programs with Chinese assistance that take women and girls as priority beneficiaries; invite 50,000 women to China for exchange and training programs; and establish a Global Center for Women's Capacity Building, which is aimed at conducting capacity building and other development cooperation with relevant countries and international organizations to train more female talent.

President Xi's speech was warmly applauded by the audience. Participants agreed that the proposals and measures he put forward are in line with the trend of our times and represent China's plans to advance the global women's cause, fully demonstrating China's sense of responsibility as a major country in the new era. Overall, this Meeting has forged a broad consensus for solidarity and cooperation, pooled strength to respond to challenges, and drawn a clear blueprint, laid out action guidelines, and injected new impetus for advancing the global cause of women's development.

During this event, President Xi also held a bilateral meeting with President Burton. The two sides spoke highly of China-Dominica friendship, and charted the course for further deepening bilateral relations and cooperation in various areas. The two leaders also discussed the empowerment of women and agreed to jointly implement the consensus reached at the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women and deepen cooperation on women's capacity building.

On the way back to Dominica, I was still deeply moved, and I believe my readers will also feel inspired. China and Dominica share the same vision on women's development and are both active practitioners in advancing this cause. In China, countless women are playing important roles in national governance, scientific innovation, economic development, and cultural and sports undertakings, vividly demonstrating the slogan "Women hold up half the sky. In Dominica, female leaders, parliamentarians, and officials have become an important force. The government has introduced a series of laws and regulations to safeguard women's rights and interests, and has taken measures such as skills training, information sharing, and expanding access to credit to empower women. With the care of both countries' leaders, the outcomes of the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women will push China-Dominica cooperation on women's empowerment to a new stage.

China and Dominica will enhance political mutual trust to strengthen strategic alignment on women's development. As good friends and partners, the two countries have always respected each other and treated each other as equals, enjoying growing political mutual trust and similar positions on many issues. China stands ready to strengthen experience sharing on governance with Dominica, including in women's affairs, to improve institutional mechanisms for promoting gender equality and women's all-round development, and to further guarantee and advance the rights and interests of women and girls. We also look forward to closer exchanges between governments, legislatures and political parties of our two countries. In particular, we welcome more women representatives from Dominica to visit China, experience firsthand China's achievements across various fields and the vitality of Chinese women, and share Dominica's valuable insights on promoting women's all-round development.

China and Dominica will expand practical cooperation to consolidate the foundation for women's development. Promoting women's all-round development requires comprehensive social support in education, health, employment, climate resilience, and infrastructure. Over the years, bilateral cooperation has brought tangible benefits to women and their families. For instance, the Dominica-China Friendship Hospital has improved maternity conditions for many local mothers. The West Coast Road built with Chinese assistance has facilitated travel for women between Roseau and Portsmouth. The Windsor Park Sports Stadium has encouraged more female athletes to shine in football, cricket, and athletics. Many Dominican girls have also pursued higher education in China with Chinese Government Scholarships. Ongoing projects, such as the 6 post-hurricane reconstruction schools and the new international airport, have provided employment opportunities for women and will bring broader prospects for education and empowerment in the near future.

China and Dominica will strengthen multilateral cooperation to jointly advance women's development. At present, complex challenges still hamper women's all-round development. Hundreds of millions of women and girls remain trapped in war, conflict, hunger, and poverty. Violence and discrimination persist as entrenched problems, and the needs of women in developing countries are often overlooked. Women in every corner of the world are bound together by a shared future. Promoting women's common development is an integral part of global governance, and women are also crucial in reforming and improving the global governance system. Not long ago, President Xi proposed the Global Governance Initiative, which was highly commended by President Burton and other world leaders. As a model of South-South cooperation, China and Dominica should join hands to shoulder the shared responsibility of advancing the women's cause, act on the four Global Initiatives, expand multilateral cooperation in the field of women, and stand firmly against unilateralism and hegemonism, which risk undermining global progress on women's development.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations and the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women. 30 years ago, the Fourth World Conference on Women adopted the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Gender equality has been etched in the agenda of our times. 30 years later, China stands ready to take this Meeting as a new starting point, and, together with Dominica and all partners, carry forward the spirit of the Fourth World Conference on Women, accelerate the new process of women's all-round development, and work together toward building a community with a shared future for humanity and creating a better world for all.