Page 132 - Chinese Woman Living and Working

WOMEN’S POLITICAL WORK AND ‘WOMEN’S WORK’ 119
Table 5.6 Female members of the Party Central Committee in post-1949 China (full members)

Sources: Adapted from Rosen (1995), p. 319; China Internet Information (2002); People’s Daily
Online (2002).
Table 5.7 Female members of the Party Central Committee in pos-1949 China (alternate members)

Sources: Adapted from Rosen (1995), p. 319; China Internet Information (2002); People’s Daily
Online (2002).
the wife of Premier Zhou Enlai. Wu Yi was elected as an alternate member of the
Politburo in the 15th Party Congress elected in 1997 (China Internet Information Centre
2002; Xie Fenghua and Liu Minhua 1999:334–42) and progressed in 2002 to full
membership at the 16th Party Congress. In the reform period only one other woman has
reached the status of Alternate Member to the Politburo. Chen Muhua served in this role
between 1977 and 1987, undertaking roles in Family Planning and Foreign Trade and
from 1988 to 1998 Chen led the ACFW.
Of the total CCP membership of 66.3 million in June 2002, 11.5 million are women
(17.3 per cent) (China Internet Information Centre 2002). Examined in this light, the
dearth of women in the top ranks of the CCP leadership is alarming. In 2000 women