China will have more women deputies to the next National People's Congress (NPC), according to a bill being discussed at the ongoing annual session of the 10th NPC.

The bill, to be put for voting next week, says that "the proportion of women deputies to the 11th National People's Congress should be no less than 22 percent."

The percentage of women deputies in China's top legislature has stayed at around 20 percent since the election of the Fifth NPC deputies in 1978.

Although it only concerns a rise of two percentage points, the proposed change was still warmly hailed by lawmakers attending the current annual session.

"This is the first time that the ratio of women deputies has been clarified. I believe it will help increase women's influence on major polices and reflect women's rights and appeals," said Zhang Meilan, a woman NPC deputy from the remote southwestern province of Yunnan.

Women lawmakers from the Republic of Korea (ROK) who attended an NPC full meeting here Thursday also lauded China's plan to elect more women as NPC deputies.

Kim Myung Ja, a member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, said, "The efforts to add more female NPC deputies will not only be conducive to improving women's social status, but to building a more harmonious society."

Jang Hyang Sook, a wheelchair-bound ROK congresswoman, said she was impressed by the high proportion of female lawmakers in China.

The proportion of women NPC deputies in China is much higher than 14 percent in the ROK and 16 percent on average in all Asian countries, said Jang, who attended the NPC meeting on the International Working Women's Day.

Observers say that Chinese women's status has been greatly advanced since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 as the country has issued a series of laws and regulations to safeguard gender equality.

Official statistics show that by 2004, 368 Chinese women had become incumbent or vice mayors, and women officials at or above the provincial (ministry) level accounted for 9.9 percent of the total at the same level, an increase of 2.8 percentage points over 1995.

To promote women's political involvement, China's Election Law stipulates that the NPC and local people's congresses should all have women deputies and the percentages of women deputies should be increased gradually.

The Communist Party of China, which is to hold its 17th national congress later this year, will also have more women delegates from across the country.

Given the progress, said NPC deputy Li Malin, "There are still some practical obstacles in women's participation in the management of state and social affairs. Male dominance is still very evident."

"Economic growth doesn't mean the elevation of women's status, and social progress doesn't simply indicate the progress of women. What's important is the full implementation of laws and policies to safeguard gender equality," said deputy Chen Yulan, also board chairwoman of Jifa Group, a knitwear produced in the scenic port city of Qingdao, Shandong Province.

"Today, one out of five women in the world is from China," said Li Malin. "So we should be fully aware that the development of Chinese women affects the whole of society, and even the whole world."

(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2007)