Mr. Chairman,

The Chinese delegation would like to concur itself with the statement by the representative of the State of Qatar on behalf of G77 & China, and congratulate the 25th anniversary of the adoption by the General Assembly of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

In the year since the consideration of women's issue by the Third Committee at the 58th General Assembly, the United Nations has achieved a lot of progress in advancement of women, protection of women's rights, and the follow-up to and implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action as well as the outcome of the 23rd Special Session of the General Assembly.

During its 48th session, the Commission on the Status of Women discussed the role of men and boys in promoting gender equality, conducted in-depth studies on the important issue of women's equal participation in conflict prevention, management and resolution as well as in post-conflict rebuilding, and adopted the agreed conclusions to guide our work.

In its substantive session in July, the Economic and Social Council conducted a five-year review and appraisal of its agreed conclusions 1997/2 on mainstreaming the gender perspective into all policies and programs in the United Nations system. It concludes that gender mainstreaming remains a critical strategy for promoting gender equality and empowerment of women. The Chinese delegation actively participated in above activities, and is ready to work with all other countries to promote the implementation of relevant conclusions and resolutions.

Mr. Chairman,

The Secretary General's report submitted to the current session of the General Assembly contained in A/59/214 made a comprehensive review of steps taken by the Assembly and its Main Committees during the past year to achieve the goal of gender equality through the gender mainstreaming strategy. We agree with relevant recommendations of the Secretary General, and urge the Assembly and its subsidiary organs to take specific and action-oriented steps to ensure gender mainstreaming in the implementation of and follow-up to major international conferences and summits.

During its 49th session in 2005, the Commission on the Status of Women will conduct a comprehensive review and appraisal of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome document of the 23rd special session of the Assembly. The Chinese delegation attaches great importance to this review, and will cooperate closely with the Bureau and member states to actively prepare for it. We are also of the view that the 49th session should focus on the review of the implementation at the country level so as to exchange respective experiences and to identify gaps and obstacles.

Mr. Chairman,

The Chinese government submitted to the United Nations in May a response to the Questionnaire on the Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and of the Outcome of the 23rd Special Session of the Assembly. It reports marked progress in gender equality in China as compared with ten years ago when the World Conference on Women was convened in Beijing. The progress is manifested mainly in the following areas:

The Chinese government has made solemn commitment to gender mainstreaming, and made it a basic national policy to achieve gender equality in its social development.China advocates a balanced gender perspective in its economic and social development. It has established and improved state mechanisms that promote gender equality, formulated and implemented Guidelines for the Advancement of Women in China 1995 – 2000 and the Guidelines for 2001 – 2010.China has gradually established a Constitution-based legal system centered on the Law of Safeguarding the Rights and Interests of Women to promote gender equality.China has seen varying degrees of advancement in women's participation in government and their access to employment, education and health service.China has enjoyed an improved social environment where the public is more aware of the necessity for the advancement of women and gender equality.

At the present time, the Chinese government is working actively with non-governmental organizations to prepare for the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Beijing World Conference on Women with a view to building on its spirit to better safeguard and promote women's rights and interests.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.