-- During the period from 2001 to 2004, a total of 13.52 billion yuan in small-sum credit loans for rural households were granted from the state poverty-reduction discount loans, and more than half of the money went to women. Since 2001, the Chinese government has taken poverty-reduction projects in the form of participation of the poor as the main way to "enhance the whole village," and such projects now cover 148,000 poverty-stricken villages nationwide.

    -- The project of "Love of the Earth, Water Cellars for Mothers," initiated by the China Women's Development Foundation, has raised funds for building more than 90,000 rain-water collecting cellars and 1,100 small water supply projects in water-deficient northwest part of China, benefiting nearly 1 million poverty-stricken people.

    -- In the past decade, women have displayed great enthusiasm in participating in electing deputies to the people's congresses at all levels and exercising their democratic rights. Some 73.4 percent of women turned out to elect deputies to local people's congresses. Of all the deputies to the various National People's Congresses, more than 20 percent have been women.

    -- At present, three of the vice-chairpersons of the National People's Congress Standing Committee are women. Four of the vice-chairpersons of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference are women.

    -- In 2004, female membership in the Communist Party of China was 12.956 million, accounting for 18.6 percent of all CPC members, an increase of 3 percentage points over 1995.

    -- By the end of 2004, 368 incumbent or vice mayors (commissioners and prefects) were women; and women cadres at or above the provincial (ministry) level accounted for 9.9 percent of the total at that level, an increase of 2.8 percentage points over1995.

    -- At present, China has one woman vice premier and one woman state councilor on the State Council, and 25 women incumbent or vice ministers or ministerial-level directors or heads in the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the ministries and commissions under the State Council.

    -- The proportion of women civil servants recruited in 2003 nationwide was 27.8 percent of the total; and that in the organs of the CPC Central Committee and central government was 37.7 percent.

    -- In 2004, the enrollment of boys and girls was 98.97 percent and 98.93 percent, respectively. The difference in access to education between boys and girls was reduced from 0.7 percentage point in 1995 to 0.04 percentage point.

    -- In 2004, the educational appropriation from the state treasury for compulsory education in rural areas reached 139.362 billion yuan, two times the amount in 1995.

    -- In 2004, the proportion of girl students in junior and senior middle schools reached 47.4 percent and 45.8 percent, respectively; the proportion of girl students in secondary vocational schools reached 51.5 percent; the number of girl students in institutions of higher learning nationwide reached 6.09 million, accounting for 45.7 percent of all students in such schools and an increase of 10.3 percentage points over 1995. The proportion of female postgraduate and doctoral students was 44.2 percent and 31.4 percent, 13.6 percentage points and 15.9 percentage points higher respectively over the figures for 1995.