51% of managers in mainland Chinese firms are women: report

Want China Times, Xinhua 2013-03-09

Female deputies at the National People's Congress in Beijing. (Photo/Xinhua)

A new survey from an independent accounting agency indicates that women now account for 51% of top management positions in Chinese mainland companies, the highest such ratio worldwide.

The global average is 24%, according to results released on Thursday by the Beijing-based Grant Thornton, based on research conducted earlier this year.

In the same period last year, women filled just 25% of senior management jobs in the mainland, the results showed.

Of the over 200 mainland companies surveyed, 94% of them have female management. Women continue to dominate roles like HR director and chief financial officer, holding 81% and 61% of the two positions, respectively.

However, more women are also occupying traditionally male-leaning positions, according to Grant Thornton. For instance, a quarter of the chief operating officer positions are taken by women this year, compared to 9% in 2012.

The survey also found that women account for 21% of the board members of mainland public companies, higher than the 19% globally.

Politically, more Chinese women are also participating in state affairs management. At the ongoing annual legislative session, 23.4% of deputies to the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, are women, rising 2.07 percentage points year on year.