Unprecedented economic growth and reforms in China have greatly contributed to the social enhancement and fi-nancial stability of women. Despite these improvements, cultural, structural, and transient factors have prevented women from benefiting equally from China’s growth. The 2003 Human Development Report ranked China 84 out of 114 countries based on gender-related development indices.

The first Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) National Report, published in 2003, identified gender equality as one of the three major challenges remaining for China to suc-cessfully achieve the MDGs. The Report made clear that gender inequality, when coupled with current education, employment, and migration trends, constitutes a major ob-stacle to progress and intrinsically hinders to development.

While China has made wide-ranging improvements in the legal foundation for women’s rights, including the ratifica-tion of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), challenges in im-plementation and enforcement remain. As China continues to draft fundamental policies, gender-specific information and statistics necessary to adequately mainstream the issue remain limited. To achieve the ambitious vision of a Xiao-kang society and the MDGs, China needs to overcome these challenges and further promote a gender-sensitive ap-proach to development.