As world leaders gather in Beijing this week for the Global Women's Summit, CGTN host Tian Wei stands at the podium with three decades of perspective. Her journey began in 1995 as a young volunteer at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women – an experience she describes as "planting seeds of equality in fertile soil."
Now in 2025, the veteran journalist has witnessed Chinese women's participation in public life grow from 36% to 68% of leadership roles across key industries. "What began as whispers for basic rights has become a symphony of social transformation," Tian told attendees during her keynote address.
The summit coincides with the 30th anniversary of the landmark Beijing Declaration, with delegates from 189 countries and regions discussing AI's impact on gender parity and new economic models for care work. Recent data shows the Chinese mainland has achieved 98% female literacy rates and closed the gender pay gap to 9.2% – the narrowest in Asia.
As night fell on the summit's opening day, Tian reflected: "The light we carry forward isn't just for Chinese women, but for every girl still writing her first chapter."
