Translated with AI
More than half a century ago, Xi Jinping, then a teenager, was among the millions of "educated young people" sent out of cities to live and work in the countryside.
In Liangjiahe, a poor village on the Loess Plateau, he witnessed firsthand the hardships of rural life. He was particularly struck by the heavy burden women bore.
One day, Xi said to Wu Hui, a local resident and his friend, “Why is a woman’s life always so hard?”
For him, this wasn't just a lament. Even at such a young age, he was already looking for ways to improve people's lives.
Xi Jinping arrived in Liangjiahe before he was 16. He spent seven years there, joined the Communist Party of China (CPC), and later became the village party leader.
Back then, field work was quite hard for local residents, and farmers' clothes wore out quickly. After a long day of work in the fields, women still had to sit at night by the dim light of kerosene lamps, mending and sewing clothes for the whole family.
To make life easier for rural women, Xi Jinping organized a sewing cooperative for villagers.
Wu, who worked with him at the time, once recalled that the cooperative hired skilled seamstresses to provide sewing services, and villagers paid for this service with a portion of their income, called “labor points.”
Thanks to the cooperative, local women who were good at sewing could make a living from their craft, while others could focus on production without being distracted by household chores.
For many years, Xi Jinping believed that women should not isolate themselves but should strive for the broader horizons of the outside world.
In March 1990, when Xi Jinping was serving as the Party chief of Ningde Prefecture in eastern China's Fujian Province, he published an article in a local newspaper challenging some of the discriminatory views toward women prevalent at the time and emphasizing the important role of local women in social development.
"It was once said that rural women should work by the stove, not on the catwalk or on the public stage," he wrote.
"However, numerous irrefutable facts have repeatedly proven that during the period of socialist revolution and construction, countless women in eastern Fujian Province (Ningde) stepped away from their ovens, came out of their homes, and became part of society, engaging in various activities and also participating in political life," Xi noted in his article for the newspaper.
"History and reality tell us that women, who make up more than half the population, are a tremendous force driving social progress. Every achievement we make is the result of women's hard work," Xi Jinping wrote in his article.
Xi was born into a family of revolutionaries. His parents, Xi Zhongxun and Qi Xin, took part in the revolution at a young age and were deeply committed to their cause.
In the 1950s, when Qi worked far from home, she could only take the bus once a week on weekends. To avoid disturbing his wife's work, the elder Xi, who at the time held key positions in the party and government, took on most of the childcare responsibilities in his free time, including bathing and laundry.
Qi recalled that her husband never asked her to sacrifice her own development in order to devote herself entirely to her family.
Like his father, Xi Jinping proved to be a caring husband.
His wife, Peng Liyuan, is a renowned singer in China. Her busy performance schedule often required her to travel and give concerts, leaving her little time for her family.
Lin Wenxiu, a former employee of the local women's federation in Fujian province who knew the family when Xi was stationed in the province, recalls Peng once telling her that she once wanted to quit her career to spend more time at home and care for their daughter.
However, Xi dissuaded Peng from this idea. "I can't be so selfish," he said, advising her to continue her creative work.
Peng used to perform at the annual Spring Festival gala concert, broadcast nationwide on the eve of Chinese New Year in Beijing, when Xi was working outside the capital. If he had time to spend the holiday with his family in Beijing, he would make dumplings at home, watch the concert, and wait for Peng to finish work. When Peng returned home, the family would make dumplings and have a holiday dinner together.
Throughout his political career, both at the local and central levels, Xi Jinping has placed particular emphasis on women's development. This approach continues now as China's top leader.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, Xi Jinping has made numerous important speeches, given instructions, and commented on work related to this issue.
He stressed the need to create a favourable environment, remove barriers and ensure conditions for the comprehensive development of women in accordance with laws and regulations, as well as to foster a positive culture in which women are respected.
He once called for special attention to be paid to some of the difficulties and problems that women face in the process of their development and protection of their rights and interests, and urged the relevant authorities to address these problems.
Under Xi Jinping's leadership, China has made significant progress in developing women's potential, and its commitment to this cause has extended beyond national borders.
"China's experience shows that women's higher participation in public and economic life enhances their status, boosts social productivity, and revitalizes the economy," Xi Jinping said in his speech at the World Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in September 2015. He pledged to do more to support women in realizing their career and life plans.
Five years later, at a high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the historic Fourth World Conference on Women, Xi Jinping called for every effort to support women and help them live full lives.
In his speech via video link, Xi Jinping called for joint and active efforts to promote gender equality and address the global challenge of women's development.
Next week, Xi Jinping will address a meeting of world leaders on women's issues in Beijing. The upcoming meeting, timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, which was also held in Beijing in 1995, is expected to mark another important milestone in the history of women's global development.
