China has created a better social environment for women's individual overall development and achieved wider recognition of gender equality in the past decade, said a survey released on Dec 27. 

The Survey on Social Status of Women in China, jointly conducted in 2020 by the All-China Women's Federation and the National Bureau of Statistics, said that about 97 percent of the 30,000 male and female respondents aged 18 to 64 nationwide agreed that women enjoy a more favorable social environment.

In addition, 1,000 questionnaires were submitted to urban community officials and 1,000 to village committee officials.

The national survey is conducted every decade, and the latest was the fourth. It assessed women's social status mainly in the fields of education, economy, social security, politics, marriage, family, health, and legal protection and awareness.

"In the past decade, women in China have participated extensively in economic and social development. More sectors have opened employment to women and they can perform at nearly the same level as men in economic and social development," the survey said.

Although the percentage of women at work remains nearly the same－at about 70 percent－as the previous survey conducted in 2010, the employment structure improved, the survey said.

Compared with 2010, a smaller proportion of women work in primary industries, which are related to agriculture, forestry and aquaculture. Instead, more women chose secondary industries such as manufacturing and tertiary industries including services, communication and education.

About 39.5 percent of women from rural areas found jobs outside agricultural fields, an increase of 15.4 percentage points over 2010, the survey said.

Chinese women's awareness of their legal rights in job-related protection also increased during the time.

More than 70 percent of respondents said they know it is illegal for companies not to allow female employees to get pregnant within certain years. More than 60 percent said they know it is also illegal for companies not to hire or promote women due to gender discrimination or to pay female workers differently from their male counterparts for the same amount of work.

This survey showed that women aged 18 to 24 receive 12.81 years of education on average, an increase of 1.85 years compared with 2010, and 0.81 years more than men of the same age group on average over the past decade. Meanwhile, more than 97 percent of the women in the age group like to follow national and international news.

Overall, about 94 percent of respondents agreed that women are as capable as their male peers and women can "hold up half of the sky "in social and economic development.