Female entrepreneurs account for one quarter in China: white paper

The number of female entrepreneurs accounts for one quarter of the total number of entrepreneurs in China, and about 55 percent of new Internet businesses are being founded by women, said a white paper issued on Tuesday.

The government has initiated an action plan to promote entrepreneurship and innovation among women, encouraging women to seek employment in emerging industries, said the white paper marking the 20th anniversary of the UN's Fourth World Conference on Women that was held in Beijing.

China helps women who are seeking employment and starting businesses.

In 2013, the total number of women employed nationwide was 346.4 million, accounting for 45 percent of the total employed population, according to the white paper.

The latest survey of the social status of Chinese women shows that women in secondary and tertiary industries grew by 25 percentage points in comparison with 10 years ago.

Female heads of various departments, professional and technical personnel, and clerical and related personnel increased by 13 percentage points, the survey says.

The white paper said in 2013, the number of middle-ranking and senior female professional and technical personnel reached 6.61 million, or 44.1 percent of the total in this category, an increase of 9 percentage points from that of 2000. Endi