The All-China Women's Federation, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and five other departments, launched the Women's Action for Scientific and Technological Innovation on April 25, 2021. The initiative's objective is to support women talents, in science and technology, as they play greater roles in scientific and technological innovation.
Jiangsu Changzhou Economic Development Zone, in Changzhou, a city in East China's Jiangsu Province, in 2023 took the lead, in the province, in issuing policies and measures that supported implementation of the Women's Action for Scientific and Technological Innovation.
The zone's policies and measures are special because they are not simply a collection of scattered incentives; rather, they actually build a fullchain ecosystem for nurturing women sci-tech talents. In fact, the policies involve "attracting talents, and helping them settle down, solve problems, establish homes and thrive in their careers."
In mid-June this year, Xia Zhaoyang, a thermal-management engineer, was busy working on a project in the laboratory of NR Electric Power Electronics Co., Ltd., in Jiangsu Changzhou Economic Development Zone.
Her project was selected for inclusion in the Jiangsu Provincial High-Level Innovative and Entrepreneurial Talent Recruitment Plan more than a year ago. The plan, launched in 2007 by Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and Jiangsu Provincial People's Government, aims to introduce high-level innovation and entrepreneurship talents, and teams, from both home and abroad, in an effort to drive Jiangsu's high-quality development.
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| Xia Zhaoyang (left), a thermal-management engineer at NR Electric Power Electronics Co., Ltd |
Xia's connection with the company began in 2024. At that time, the company was coping with a critical technological bottleneck, and it urgently required a breakthrough. Xia, meanwhile, was searching for a job that aligned with her ideals and expertise.
"The zone has a strong industrial foundation, and it also has dedicated policies that support women sci-tech talents in innovation and entrepreneurship. Meanwhile, the company is deeply involved in the cutting-edge, new-power-equipment field, which highly matches my research direction. So, I accepted the job offered by the company," Xia says.
The zone provided her with research and development funding, and it offered her a living allowance, to help her settle down in the city.
Since joining the company, Xia has led her team in overcoming challenges, step by step, and she has helped improve, significantly, the products' power density and reliability. Her efforts have resulted in huge economic benefits to the company.
Xia is just one of the numerous talented sci-tech women who have benefited from the zone's policies, and who have achieved personal growth and career development in the zone.
Attracting Talents
The zone is committed to attracting and cultivating talents based on its future industry layout. The policies state if top women entrepreneurial talents are introduced to lead or establish enterprises that employ high-level talents or new-type, research-and-development institutions in the zone, up to 100 million yuan (US $14.71 million) in special funding can be allocated to their respective enterprises or institutions.
Once selected for the Jiangsu Provincial High-Level Innovative and Entrepreneurial Talent Recruitment Plan, the women will receive provincial-level funding, and additional support from the zone, for their projects.
However, the service mechanism, throughout the process of attracting and nurturing talent, is far more crucial than the funding. The zone has established a special service team, which provides targeted services, such as material reviews and simulated defense, to the women who want their projects to be selected for the plan.
Xia's project has received provincial-, municipal-and district-level financial support. Combined with funding from her company, nearly 15 million yuan (US $2.21 million) has been injected into the project from the various levels of government.
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| Zhang Jingfen, General Manager of Yifa New Material Research Institute (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. |
Zhang Jingfen, General Manager of Yifa New Material Research Institute (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd., has also benefited from the talent cultivation. Her company has received more than 1 million yuan (US $147,059) in entrepreneurial funding and housing subsidies.
A special, 10-million-yuan (US $1.47 million) fund has been established in the zone to allocate — as rewards, subsidies and special-development allowances — funding to women sci-tech talents.
Each year, more than 500 women, with a bachelor's degree or higher, find employment in enterprises in the zone, and the zone distributes more than 5 million yuan (US $735,294) in various subsidies among the women annually.
This substantial financial investment demonstrates the zone's firm determination to attract, cherish and nurture talented women.
Supporting Dreams
Can women talents have a "chemical reaction" with industrial needs in the zone? The zone's answer: Yes. But how? By encouraging the "open-competition" mechanism and empowering women to lead projects and play major roles in tackling challenges.
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Huang Yan, founder of Jiangsu Huaxuan Sensing Technology Co., Ltd. |
Establishment of Jiangsu Huaxuan Sensing Technology Co., Ltd., within the zone, benefited from this mechanism. The company, founded by Huang Yan, a young woman entrepreneur, mainly manufactures automotive sensors. The company's core product, the resolver sensor, broke the technological monopoly held by other Western countries. Currently, Huang's company holds more than a 30-percent share of the automotive-sensor market in China.
Huang's company adopted the "open-competition" mechanism. The company releases a list of projects at the end of each year, and anyone who believes he/she is capable can apply to manage one of those projects.
Wen Tingting has benefited from this mechanism. Last year, she applied for and was named manager of a project that established a production line for a leading international, new-energy enterprise.
"I think for women to gain a foothold and shoulder responsibilities in technology-intensive industries, what we lack most is not ability, but an opportunity and a sense of trust," Huang says. "We are beneficiaries of the policies of the zone, and we hope to pass on this strength to others."
The Women's Federation of Jiangsu Changzhou Economic Development Zone in 2024 launched a women's entrepreneurship-service project. Ten women's innovation studios have since been established throughout the zone, and those studios have focused on rural revitalization, skills enhancement, legal services and various other fields.
The zone has also established seven women's entrepreneurship bases, and two provincial-level bases for women college students' entrepreneurship and employment. Such efforts, combined, have been providing a broad platform for women's scientific and technological innovation.
The zone has regularly hosted women's innovation and entrepreneurship forums, salons and symposiums, and it has established a women's entrepreneur-mentorship group. More than 20 job fairs have been held, providing tens of thousands of childcare friendly positions. These positions offer flexible working hours to provide convenience for working parents. The zone has also organized e-commerce-training classes for women, and those sessions have benefited more than 450 women livestreamers.
Relieving Concerns
To ease parents' concerns about childcare, a specific measure in the zone is encouraging the construction of childcare centers and offering subsidies to support the centers.
The inclusive, childcare-service system has been continuously improved. Enterprises and communities, such as Zenith Steel Group Co., Ltd. and Xingdong Community, have organized childcare classes during winter and summer vacations.
The zone has also cooperated with SF Express Changzhou Longcheng Transfer Center to organize winter-vacation childcare classes, in the center's logistics park, for workers in the new employment groups. Also, companies, including NR Electric and Huaxuan Sensing, have established nursing rooms, to create a warm and friendly working environment for women.
The zone has also established women's service stations, which have provided various services — including housekeeping and cleaning, protection of rights and interests, family education and marriage and relationship counseling — to women employees.
The zone also provides housing support to young women employees. Eligible women can receive both a monthly living allowance and a rental subsidy for up to 36 months.
When they are buying a home, they can receive a subsidy ranging from 30,000 yuan to 250,000 yuan (US $4,412-36,765), provided it is their first home purchase. If the woman has either a master's degree or PhD, she can receive an additional subsidy ranging from 50,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan (US $7,353-14,706).
"As I received a monthly living allowance of 800 yuan (US $118) and a rental subsidy of 800 yuan, I feel things were much easier for me when I first moved to the zone," Xia says. She received a municipal-level housing subsidy (300,000 yuan [US $44,118]), and an additional subsidy from the zone, after she had been with the company for six months.
Cultivating Industrial Workers
Industrial workers in the zone have been encouraged and supported to strive for excellence in their careers. Jiang Caiqin, internal trainer of the overhead crane operators at Zenith Steel Group, is an outstanding representative of women technicians working in the zone. Jiang has been named a National March 8th Red-Banner Pacesetter, and a Model Worker of Jiangsu Province.
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| Jiang Caiqin, internal trainer of the overhead crane operators at Zenith Steel Group |
Jiang Caiqin Model Worker (Craftsmanship) Innovation Workshop was established in 2022. She has since led various technical training programs, and those programs have benefited more than 1,000 employees annually.
Since 2022, she has led her team in providing technological innovation and process improvement, and those efforts have resulted in more than 50 million yuan (US $7.35 million) in economic benefits for the enterprise.
At Zenith Steel Group, 90 percent of the employees in the overhead crane section are women. Many women also serve as leaders or core members of the quality-control teams.
To help women expand career opportunities, a master artisans' academy has been established in the zone, and it has provided more than 100 vocational-skills-training sessions.
The academy has hosted skills competitions, which have allowed outstanding and highly skilled women to stand out. The academy has also organized specialized training for fitters, electricians and e-commerce professionals, and those sessions have attracted an increasing number of women into the digital economy and emerging industries.
Women sci-tech talents have been recommended to apply for honors, such as March 8th Red-Banner Holder, National Woman Pacesetter for Achievements, and Most Beautiful Scientific and Technological Worker. To date, more than 100 women in the zone have received national-, provincial-, and/or municipal-level awards for their achievements in science and technology.
Photos from Women's Federation of Jiangsu Changzhou Economic Development Zone
(Women of China English Monthly July 2026)
Editor: Wang Shasha
