Voices and Visions

Meng Xiaosi， Former Vice President， All-China Womens Federation：？ T h e A l l - C h i n a Womens Federation has been promoting small loans exclusively for women， especially those in rural areas， since 2009， aiming to increase womens social and family status. By September 2016， 15 million women had benefi ted from this.

Yang Lan， Founder， Sun Media Group：？ Of the small and micro company founders in Chinas Internet industry， 55 percent are women. In the United States， the number is 41 percent. Only 10 percent of Chinese women entrepreneurs can access venture capital， and in the States， its less than 5 percent.

Some say women are not good at rational thinking. They are more emotional. They probably have advantages in culture， art， education and medical services but not in [science]. Its wrong. Given equal opportunities， women can perform as well as men.

Zhang Xichao， Professor， School of Psychology， Beijing Normal University： My team released a report on Chinese womens mental health and happiness at the forum.

Women in marriage who have kids are happier than those who dont. For women who are divorced， the more kids they have， the unhappier they are. We focused on full-time housewives. They are the least happy of our researched groups. Except for parenthood， they are unsatisfi ed with their relationship with their husband and their personal freedom. Therefore， we can say that independence and freedom contribute more to their happiness. We should give more care to full-time housewives.

Mark Gibbs， President， SAP Greater China： Change is happening not fast enough. In the Fortune 500 companies， only 4 percent of CEOs are women. Women in IT are 25 percent of the workforce. By 2020， half of the workforce will be millennials， and 25 percent will be over 55. Companies will need to consider how to balance that age difference within the workplace. The biggest thing that makes me think and makes me scared is that I have a 7-year-old daughter. And Im trying to think what the world will be like by the time she enters the workforce. Will it be a more equal and inclusive society？ Will she have an equal chance， like all her male school friends？ Is her education suffi cient？ So，[there are] many things for us to think about.

Zhang Chaoyang， Chairman and CEO， Sohu.com： Innovation for a company is to generate new products， new technologies and new business models which can make the company successful and change peoples lifestyle. But whats the essence of innovation for the company？ Its not the business model， but the innovation of organization.

How to make a strong team？ Select the right talent and give enough incentives. A higher salary or better options cant buy[good] staff. People need a sense of identity and accomplishment.

The leader should create a company culture that respects workers spirit. To do work worth doing could be more important than payment.

Hao Jingfang， Science Fiction Writer： Creation is a process of expression. Many people dont think they are creative mainly because they dont treat their true feelings with honesty. They care about other peoples thoughts and ignore their own feelings. We need to learn how to express ourselves， for example， by painting， writing， talking or shooting a movie. Let your thoughts come out in the form of real work.

Yu Dan， Professor， Beijing Normal University： Some of my women friends who are 40-50 have told me they are going back to university. Some said they were going to spend a whole year receiving training， some said they were trying to learn something professional. They are either senior managers in corporations or retirees whose kids have got married. Their reasons are almost the same： They wish to get old elegantly.

One of them told me she didnt want to turn into a granny talking her childrens and grandchildrens ears off. Thats why she went to study art at the age of 50.