China has made notable strides in advancing Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) through its International Development Cooperation (IDC), identifying gender equality as a priority within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Its efforts, highlighted in the 2021 White Paper on IDC, have focused on health, education, and women’s economic empowerment, particularly across Southeast Asia and Africa. The China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) introduced a new evaluation indicator system in 2023, which includes women and children as core impact indicators. While progress has been achieved, further opportunities exist to enhance gender intentionality across the project cycle and strengthen the integration of gender perspectives into strategic policy planning and program design.
Domestically, China has institutionalized gender equality through multi-sectoral frameworks, legal reforms, and national policy initiatives. Gender equality is embedded in the national governance structure and sectoral planning, including the Five-Year Development Plans and Healthy China 2030. The government has strengthened women’s rights through legal frameworks such as the Law on the Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests, the Civil Code, and the Anti-Domestic Violence Law, while promoting gender-sensitive education, media, and community governance. China’s global GEWE rankings, including a 41st place on the UNDP Gender Inequality Index in 2023, reflect gradual improvements in reproductive health, empowerment, and labor market participation.
China’s IDC contributions to GEWE have been reinforced through initiatives such as the 2021 White Paper and the Beijing+30 National Report, which emphasize international cooperation for women’s development. CIDCA has highlighted priorities including safeguarding women and children’s rights, capacity building, and digital empowerment. Under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), gender equality has been formally incorporated as a priority, with action plans supporting women’s empowerment and sustainable development. China has also launched platforms for global women’s development cooperation, including training bases and capacity-building centers, and committed significant resources to programs targeting women and girls.
Recent CIDCA policies, such as the Foreign Aid Project Evaluation Indicator System, explicitly include gender outcomes, although there is room for deeper integration across project design, feasibility assessments, and implementation. Examples from projects under the Global Development and South–South Cooperation Fund (GDF) demonstrate progress in targeting women as direct beneficiaries, yet these efforts remain largely project-specific. There is potential to adopt a more systemic and consistent approach to mainstreaming gender across China’s IDC, aligning with international best practices.
Moving forward, opportunities exist to strengthen gender-responsive policy frameworks and strategic alignment in China’s IDC. Enhancing inter-ministerial coordination among CIDCA, MOFCOM, the National Working Committee on Children and Women, the All-China Women’s Federation, and sectoral ministries could foster more coherent, synergistic policies. Integrating gender perspectives into policy formulation, decision-making, program implementation, monitoring, and financing would improve the equity, effectiveness, and sustainability of development outcomes. Strengthened dialogue with international partners and alignment with SDG 5 can further optimize China’s contributions to a gender-equitable and resilient global development landscape.
