CRI听力:China Unveils the Blueprint for Women and Children

China's State Council has released the Outline for the Development of Chinese Women and Children (2011-2020), aiming to narrow the development gap between women and children of urban and rural areas. The implementation of the two outlines, which clearly map out the plan for Chinese women and children over the course of the next ten years, can have a positive effect on their development.

The newly issued Outline for the Development of Chinese Women stresses on enhancing women's influence in decision management and public administration. It sets 57 goals and 88 measures, touching upon seven fields concerning the development of women such as education, politics, and social security.

Accordingly, the Outline for the Development of Chinese Children is an all-encompassing plan covering such aspects as health, education, social environment, legal protection and welfare.

Song Xiuyan, deputy director of National Committee on Women and Children, says the welfare aspect covers targets like extending the scope of welfare for children, advancing the transformation of children's welfare system and increasing the coverage rate and level of basic medical insurance.

"The outline also highlights goals like providing medical assistance to children who have no parents, money or suffer from serious illness, and fulfilling migrant worker and their children's need of public service."

Song also says that National Committee on Women and Children will create a monitoring system to ensure success of it's goals.

The last outline on the development of women and children was released in 2001, embracing the two groups of people in the overall plan of the Chinese social and economy development blueprint. The two outlines in 2001 called for perfecting the legal system to safeguard the rights of women and children as well as increasing funding.

Targets set in the 2001 outline have been achieved, by and large, after ten-years of implementation. The mortality rate of pregnant women has dropped from 53 out of 100,000 in 2000 to 30 out of 100,000.

Deputy Director Song adds that due to the 2001 outline of development on women, Chinese Women have also become more involved in regional and national politics.

"Women have been playing a part in the Political Bureau and state council. We've got three Vice Chairwomen in the National People's Congress and four in the National People's Political Consultative Conference."

Song also says that in 2010, 87.1% of provincial bodies in China have female leaders, while back in 2000, the proportion was 64.5%."

For CRI, I'm Zhang Ru.