Tianjin Hosts 8th Asia Women's Forum to Pool Women's Power

The 8th Asia Women's Forum was launched in north China's Tianjin Municipality on September 16, which organizers say aims to "pool women's power and promote prosperity in the Asia-Pacific Region."

As the largest forum of professional women in Asia, the event this year has attracted some 400 attendees, ranging from outstanding women from various fields to women leaders, celebrities, scholars and researchers.

These guests come from China and 13 countries and regions in the world. Apart from panel discussions and conferences during the event, cooperation agreements are expected to be reached among the organizations involved.

The Asia Women's Forum has been focusing on women's issues and development ever since it was started in 2004. Organizers hope that the 2015 event will further work to improve dialogues between men and women and promote friendly exchanges among Asian female citizens.

The forum is held from September 15-17 jointly by the Tianjin Women's Federation, the city's foreign affairs office and the Asia Women's Development Association.

Tianjin, the host city, has made remarkable achievements in ensuring the health, education and social security of women and children in recent years, said officials.

The city's mortality rates for pregnant women, infants and kids under 5 have been below 0.01, 0.6 and 0.7 percent, respectively, reaching the level of developed countries. The life expectancy of women now exceeds 83, over four years longer than their male counterparts.

Gender differences in compulsory education have been almost eliminated in the city, along with higher enrollments that are above the national average in secondary and higher education.

Also, women in Tianjin are taking an increasing part in non-agriculture sector work, and in the technology field. Over 10 million of them have been covered by social insurance, with more to be protected and to benefit in future.

(Source: jwb.com.cn, Tianjin Daily/Translated and edited Women of China)