2024 Report on Sci-Tech Empowering Rural Transformation highlights women’s innovation and entrepreneurship

Zeng Liying, president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade’s Grain Industry Sub-Council and  former deputy director of China’s National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, delivers one of the opening speeches at the International Forum on Sci-Tech Empowering Rural Transformation - 3rd Event.

“Currently, around 250 million women aged 16 to 70 are engaged in production and business activities in China’s rural areas,” Zeng Liying, president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade’s Grain Industry Sub-Council and former deputy director of China’s National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, pointed out in her opening remarks. “Their contributions go beyond agricultural production; they play an active role in decision-making and managing village affairs while helping to drive the growth of rural tourism, services, and characteristic local industries.”

Zeng also observed that women’s active involvement in rural vitalization is a complex, long-term undertaking and reaffirmed the Grain Industry Sub-Council’s commitment to fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders so as to form a united front in pursuing this shared objective.