-- In 2004, the proportions of women teachers in junior and senior middle schools were 45.9 percent and 41.7 percent, respectively; and the proportions of full-time women teachers in secondary vocational schools and institutions of higher learning were 46.5 percent and 42.5 percent, respectively.

    -- In 2004, the illiteracy rate among women 15 years of age and above in urban areas was 8.2 percent, a decrease of 5.7 percentage points from that of 1995; the illiteracy rate among women 15 years of age and above in rural areas was 16.9 percent, a decrease of 10.5 percentage points from that of 1995. The illiteracy rate among young and middle-aged women across the country was 4.2 percent, a drop of 5.2 percentage points from that of 1995.

    -- According to the fifth national census, conducted in 2000, the average number of years of education of Chinese women was seven - one and a half years more than in 1990 - and the gap between the genders had been narrowed by half a year in that decade.

    -- By the end of 2004, there were 2,997 healthcare institutes for women and children throughout China, with 243,000 beds for women.

    -- For years, the healthcare departments at all levels have considered the examination and treatment of gynecological diseases routine work. Every year, over one third of married women under the age of 65 across China go through examinations for gynecological diseases. In 2004, some 37.3 percent of them had this examination.

    -- The average life expectancy for women was 74 years in 2003.

    -- In the 2000-2001 period, the state invested 200 million yuan in a project intended to "lower the mortality rate of women in pregnancy and childbirth and eliminate tetanus among the newborn," which covered 378 state-level poor counties. From 2002 to 2005, the central treasury and relevant local areas allocated an additional 400 million yuan for the continuation of this project, extending it to 1,000 counties and benefiting more than 300 million people.

    -- In the past decade, the mortality rate of women in childbirth has declined steadily - from 61.9 per 100,000 in 1995 to 48.3 per 100,000 in 2004.

    -- Over the last decade, the rate of early marriage among women has dropped, the average age for first marriage has gone up, and the general childbirth rate was kept at a fairly low level - 1.8 per couple in 2004.

    -- From 2001 to 2004, the central government earmarked 9.7 billion yuan to solve the problem of drinking water for rural residents, providing safe drinking water for an average of 6.9 million rural women a year. In 2004, as many as 53.1 percent of rural households in China had access to sanitary toilets. The sanitary disposal rate of night soil in rural areas rose quickly from 28.5 percent in 1998 to 57.5 percent in 2004. The upgrading of public toilets and sewage facilities has eased the heavy burden of many rural women to carry water, and reduced health hazards for them and their family members, thus effectively improving their living and development conditions.

    -- In the last decade, China has enacted and revised, in succession, the Marriage Law, the Population and Family Planning Law, the Law on Rural Land Contracting, and the Law on Protection of Rights and Interests of Women, and promulgated and implemented over 100 rules and regulations concerning the protection of women's rights and interests, such as the Regulations on Implementing the Law on Mother and Infant Healthcare.

    --In recent years, local statutes outlawing domestic violence have been enacted in 22 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) by the end of 2004. Enditem