On the eve of International Women's Day (March 8), the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) named 10 women the "2025 Most Beautiful Women Strivers." Those women were: Wang Zhiqin, Maynur Niyaz, Li Naluo, Yang Shuting, Jin Meilin, Zhao Hailing, Zhao Chunling, Huang Hongying, Cui Yufang and Liang Daihua. The women were also named National March 8th Red-Banner Pacesetters by the ACWF. The women have striven hard to make contributions, within their respective fields, on the new journey of building a modern socialist country in all respects. Their stories showcase the various spirits — including perseverance, self-improvement and open-mindedness — of women in the new era. In this edition, Women of China English Monthly is offering a glimpse into some of the women's experiences.

Advancing Modernization of Information, Communications Industry

"We will make determined efforts to innovate. We will plan, and promote, the core technology origination of the sixth generation (6G) of mobile communications, and we will advance tests, evaluations of the technologies and conduct preliminary research into relevant international standards," says Wang Zhiqin, a researcher with China Academy of Information and Communications Technology. 

Wang has worked in the information and communications technology industry for more than 30 years. The industry's development has resulted in faster, cheaper and universal telecommunications services in China. 

Wang played a major role in the establishment of the whole-process integrated 5G technological innovation system. As head of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Coordination Group, Wang played a key role in developing the global unified standard for 5G. By sincerely, and skillfully, communicating with global 3GPP participants, Wang was able to secure international consensus for setting the unified standard. 

She also led the research into the advanced 5G testing system, and she played a key role in promoting the 5G-empowered digital transformation of various industries. 

Wang led the 5G Core Technologies and Engineering Application Project. In 2023, the project received the first prize of State Scientific and Technological Progress Award. The project helps ensure China leads the way in the quality of the 5G network, and in the industrial development and application of 5G technologies. 

Wang and her team are developing 6G technologies, to meet the strategic demands of both the industry and the country.   

Safeguarding Women's Health in Xinjiang

"I hope rural women will pay more attention to their health, especially in terms of disease prevention," says Maynur Niyaz (on the right in the picture), chief physician with People's Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Maynur has been dedicated to the prevention, treatment and research of cervical cancer for the past 48 years. She has performed more than 20,000 surgeries on cancer patients, and she has cured more than 9,000 critically ill patients. 

Maynur's team has conducted more than 360,000 cervical cancer screenings in Xinjiang, and the team's efforts have resulted in the establishment of Xinjiang's cervical cancer database. 

Under Maynur's leadership, the gynecology department of People's Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has developed into a key national clinical department, and the department has a special center to test, diagnose and treat cervical cancer. 

Maynur often works overtime when treating patients, especially those who have traveled a long distance to see her. She has even paid for the treatments of some patients, who were coping with financial difficulties. 

Maynur has led 26 national- or regional-level gynecological-research projects. More than 200 of her academic papers have been published. She has delivered more than 1,000 academic lectures, and she has trained more than 10,000 medical professionals to provide services in grassroots healthcare institutions. Her efforts have helped improve the quality of cervical cancer prevention and treatment efforts at the grassroots level, and she has helped increase rural women's health awareness in Xinjiang.

Helping Villagers Increase Incomes, Inherit Ethnic Culture

"I will lead my fellow villagers in achieving prosperity, and creating beautiful lives, with our beautiful songs," says Li Naluo, a member of the general Party branch committee of Menggen Village, in Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, in Pu'er, a city in Southwest China's Yunnan Province. 

Li has adopted a unique method to share the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress and the 13th National Women's Congress of China with residents of several villages in Yunnan. 

She has given speeches, in both the Mandarin and Lahu languages, and she has produced songs and dances to help people understand the Party's policies. 

Li's father, Li Shikai, is an inheritor of Lusheng Dance (of the Lahu ethnic group), which is a national-level intangible cultural heritage. Li Naluo learned about Lahu culture from her father. In 2005, she joined a Lahu art troupe in Menggen. She learned traditional Lahu singing and dancing skills from older artists, and she and her fellow performers often discussed ways to establish new performing styles. With her talent, and her deep understanding of Lahu culture, she soon became the troupe's leading figure. She wrote a song reflecting the happy daily lives of the Lahu people. That song, which combined Lahu and pop music styles, became popular in Yunnan. Since then, the troupe has been invited to perform in many places in China. 

Li Naluo has spared no effort in helping her fellow villagers increase their incomes, especially by developing rural tourism. She mobilized the villagers to join her art troupe, and she taught them to sing and dance. By performing with the troupe, and by selling crafts to tourists, the villagers have increased their earnings. 

Li Naluo has also helped women increase their incomes by producing traditional Lahu ethnic costumes and accessories. Also, she has taught more than 500 children how to perform Lahu ethnic dances.

Chasing Dream, in Wheelchair

"Whatever hardships I face, I will march ahead with a grateful heart," says Yang Shuting (on the right in the picture), chairperson of Hunan Shaoyang Association of Persons with Physical Disabilities. 

Yang has been a paraplegic since 2011, when she was injured in a traffic accident. "I felt desperate, and it was the Internet that helped me discover a new world," Yang recalls. In 2013, she began providing services (answering customers' questions) online via Taobao, an e-commerce platform. The job renewed her confidence. 

In 2015, Yang established an artificial-flower-manufacturing cooperative in her hometown, Chengbu, a county in Shaoyang, a city in Central China's Hunan Province. She employed disabled people and impoverished villagers in Chengbu. The cooperative now has 22 artificial-flower-assembly sites. During the past 10 years, the cooperative has helped more than 1,400 people, from more than 30 villages, escape poverty. 

In 2016, Yang established an international trade company. The company's products, including suitcases and artificial flowers, are now sold in Europe, North America, South America and the Middle East. The company's total export value has exceeded 60 million yuan (US $8.45 million) during the past eight years. 

In 2023, Yang was elected a member of the 13th Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). As a political advisor, Yang has called for more support for disabled people's employment and entrepreneurship. She has also suggested government departments in Hunan establish an inclusive digital-skills-training system, and she has called on enterprises and associations of disabled persons to organize courses in practical skills related to livestreaming. 

Yang has also suggested governments provide policies to guarantee women's employment and entrepreneurship, and that governments establish a complete women's entrepreneurship training and guidance system.

Fighting Animal Diseases, Protecting Public Health

"I'm passionate about scientific research, and I will always firmly protect animals' health, and the security of public health," says Jin Meilin, a professor with the College of Animal Science and Technology, under Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU) (in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province). 

Jin in 1980 was hired by HZAU to teach and conduct research, after she graduated from Peking University's department of biology. 

At that time, swine dysentery was widespread in China. Jin spent eight years researching the infectious disease, and her research results helped curb the epidemic. She led her team in conducting research on how to control swine influenza. They created a quick, and cheap, swine-influenza-testing technique, and they developed China's first swine-influenza vaccine. Jin also helped solve key technical problems, several times, when China had to control outbreaks of animal diseases. 

"Animal diseases affect the health of both animals and humans," says Jin. Her research has focused on technologies to prevent and control zoonoses, including animal flu and streptococcus suis (a bacterium that affects pigs). Her research results have been applied within relevant industries, and her research has helped ensure Chinese consume safe eggs, meat and milk.

Selling Mountain-Grown Products, Helping Improve Farmers' Lives

"Now, my team and I are working with farmers to bring their agricultural products to bigger markets. I always remember I came from the countryside," says Zhao Hailing, director of Sichuan Qingchuan Hengfeng Edible Fungi Planting Cooperative. 

After she graduated from college, in 2009, Zhao started a business — selling agricultural products online — in her home in Qingchuan, a county in Guangyuan, a city in Southwest China's Sichuan Province. Why? At that time, the county was being rebuilt, as it had been largely destroyed during an earthquake on May 12, 2008. 

Due to the lack of sales channels, it was difficult for the region's farmers, especially those who lived deep in the mountains, to sell their products. With the aspiration of helping the farmers live better lives, Zhao decided to open an online shop. Sometimes, she had to walk for hours through the mountains to collect the farmers' products. Her hard work paid off. One year later, her shop's sales revenues reached one million yuan (US $140,845). 

In 2012, Zhao rented several plots of land from farmers so she could establish an edible fungi planting base and build standardized plants (which covered 6,000 square meters). She provided various spawns of fungi to more than 200 farmers, who grew them at the base. She also offered technical guidance to the farmers. She employed residents, from impoverished families, to work at the base and in the plants. The jobs helped the workers increase their families' incomes. 

Zhao's team now has cooperation agreements with more than 6,000 rural households and over 200 agricultural-production bases. 

"Issues relating to agriculture, rural areas and farmers bear on the economy of a country, and on the wellbeing of its people. We will take concrete actions to deepen rural reforms and advance all-around rural revitalization," Zhao says.

Pushing Limits of Commercial Aircraft Development

"My positions, roles and the challenges I had to face changed over time, but my passion for aviation and my fearless determination have never wavered," says Zhao Chunling, chief designer of China's wide-body C929 aircraft with Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC). 

Zhao is the first woman chief designer in China's aviation industry to lead a major national aircraft program. She joined COMAC in 2009, and she has since played a key role in the design, development and testing of the C909 and C919 aircraft. Both aircraft are now being produced on a large scale. 

In 2012, Zhao was appointed deputy chief designer of the avionics and electrical systems for the C909 aircraft. She led her team in testing the aircraft, and the team achieved breakthroughs in some core technologies. Those breakthroughs ensured the aircraft was certified as airworthy. 

Development of the C919 large-passenger aircraft was a challenge for Zhao. To meet the strictest-ever international standards on an aircraft's crew-alerting system, in 2020, she organized a special team, composed of professionals from 40 fields covering design, test flight and customer service. The team conducted numerous calculations, simulator tests and test flights, and the C919 aircraft eventually became the world's first aircraft to receive certification for the strict-crew-alerting system. 

"I was honored to participate in the development of the C909 and C919 passenger jetliners, and the C929 long-range, wide-body passenger aircraft. I have witnessed the realization of China's dream of producing its own commercial aircraft," Zhao says. 

In 2023, she was appointed chief designer of the C929 aircraft, and she has since led her team in pushing the boundaries of China's commercial aircraft development.

Promoting Rural Revitalization Through Tea Business

"Only a successful enterprise will help boost the economy of a region and improve people's lives. We should bring people practical benefits and give them a stronger sense of gain and happiness," says Huang Hongying, chairperson of Guizhou Huanghongying Tea Co., Ltd. 

When Huang decided to start a business, in 2009, she discovered Guoshui, a village in Jianzhong, a town in Weng'an County, in Southwest China's Guizhou Province, had the ideal natural conditions for planting tea. However, the village was poverty-stricken, and the villagers transported their goods by horse. Huang and her team had to perform the manual labor to level the land and build the roads. 

Given their lack of experience planting tea, they were confronted with various other challenges. Almost all of the first batch of tea seedlings planted failed to survive, because the seedlings were unable to stand the low temperatures during winter. 

Despite the hardships, Huang insisted on pursuing her dream — building an organic tea plantation. By 2015, her company had planted 12,600 mu (840 hectares) of tea trees in Jianzhong, and the plantation had received organic-production certification. 

Huang's company now provides 1,800 jobs annually, and, on average, its employees receive an extra 13,000 yuan (US $1,831) in annual per-capita income. Huang also helps the workers improve their professional skills by organizing training courses, and she helps small and medium-sized enterprises, by offering them guidance on policies and technologies.

Promoting High-Quality Development of Animal Husbandry

"It's my duty and mission to develop high-quality feed that will ensure animals' health and people's food safety," says Liang Daihua, president of the Research Institute of Gushi Biological Group. 

Liang joined Gushi and began researching and developing environmentally friendly feed in 1999. To provide nutritious food to livestock in an accurate way, it's necessary for one to learn animals' nutritional needs at the various stages of their growth. After she visited many farms, Liang realized most of the feed in the market failed to meet animals' nutritional needs. She and her team soon developed different types of feed for various stages of animals' growth. 

To verify the effects of the feed, Liang and her colleagues conducted several experiments and sample tests, and they performed considerable data analysis. They fed pigs with various types of feed, based on their stages of growth, and the program was recognized by the livestock-breeding industry. 

Liang and her team have developed more than 100 types of green-feed nutritional programs, and they have obtained 18 invention patents and 51 utility-model patents. Under Liang's leadership, Gushi has established a strict quality-control mechanism, which guarantees the quality of raw materials and products. Liang vows to continue promoting the health and environmental friendliness of animal husbandry.

Source: Women Voice

(Women of China English Monthly April 2025)

Editor: Wang Shasha