CWU Teachers Attend CWRS's Annual Meeting

Teachers from China Women's University (CWU) participated in the annual meeting and symposium of the Chinese Women's Research Society (CWRS), which was held in Beijing from November 28-29.

The meeting aims to carry forward the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), study Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, discuss the major theoretical and practical issues concerning the development of modern women and promote the innovative development of socialist women's theory with Chinese characteristics.

Shen Yueyue, vice-chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, president of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) and president of the CWRS, made a speech at the conference. Shen urged attendees to closely study the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress, unify their thinking with actions, be armed with Xi's thinking, implement the spirit throughout the entire process of women's theory research and take responsibility for women's research in the new era.

Shen also emphasized that attendees should take socialism with Chinese characteristic as a guiding principle and deepen the theoretical and practical research on women in the new era.

During the meeting, Li Mingshun, secretary of the CWU Party Committee, made the keynote speech entitled "Under the Guidance of the 19th CPC Party Congress, Constructing a Marriage-and-Family System Based on Substantive Gender Equality."

Li pointed out that building a marriage and family system based on gender equality is a necessary requirement of the 19th CPC National Congress. All participants should adhere to the Marxist view of law, family and women in the new era.

In order to construct such a system, attendees should correctly handle several groups of relationships, which are: the relationship between law and morality, the relationship between different values of de-familialization and re-familization, the relationship between the family system and family perspective, the relationship between civil regulations and social norms, the relationship between marital safety and transaction security, as well as the relationship between life and property security. Li's farsighted speech was highly praised by those present.

CWU teachers delivered speeches and exchanged opinions with the experts during the event, showing a fine academic style. Professor Han He'nan participated in one of the themed forums, namely "Innovation and Development of Socialist Women's Theory with Chinese Characteristics", and made a speech on the topic of "The Institutional and Constructive Issues of Chinese Women's Studies". Professor Wang Hongliang attended the discussion on "Reform of the Women's Federation and Women's Work in the New Situation" and made a report on "Crisis in Grassroots Women's Federation Service: Reflection on Women's Home Centers."

Zhang Lixi, vice-president of the CWRS and former president of the CWU, attended the event and presided over the closing ceremony. Tan Lin, vice-president and member of the Secretariat of the ACWF, who also serves as vice-president of the CWRS, summed up the achievements and experiences obtained by the CWRS since the 18th CPC National Congress.

Tan urged those present to further implement the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress, earnestly study President Xi's remarks, further advance women's research, work hard to solidify women's organizations and promote the construction of women's studies forces.

Under the guidance of the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress and President Xi's appeals, attendees should also recognize the national condition, draw on international experiences, take history as a mirror, face reality, combine theory with practice and promote the innovation and development of socialist women's theory and practice with Chinese characteristics.

More than 200 experts in women's studies and officials from women's federations from 27 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities attended the meeting. Participants listened to lectures on the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress and discussed the major theoretical and practical issues, including "Innovation and Development of Socialist Women's Theories with Chinese Characteristics", "Women, Marriage and Family", "Adjustment of Childbirth Policy and Women's Development", "Women's Poverty Alleviation and Employment", "Women's Federations Reform and Women's Causes under the New Situation", and "Women's Participation in Social Governance and Decision-making".

All those present said that studying, publicizing and implementing the congress spirit is both a political task and an academic mission; that more efforts should be made to deeply explore issues related to women's development and members should make new progress in their work.

The distinct theme and rich content of the meeting deepened their understanding of the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress and reinforced their thinking on how to find the key point of women's issues and the reform of women's federations, the attendees added.

In the future, they will adhere to President Xi's strategic thinking while carrying out research, solve women's issues according to the national situation, further strengthen practical research, better serve women's development and provide intellectual support for the reform of the women's federations, the participants said.

(Source: China Women's University/Translated and Edited by Gender Study Network)