Chinese girls of the early 1900s, with their feet bound to convert them to subservient housewives, would have found it difficult to imagine their female offspring as soccer stars attracting world-wide attention.

While Chinese society witnesses rapid economic expansion, its female members are experiencing unprecedented freedom to enjoy their lives and develop their careers.

"May women hold up half the sky" used to be a famous slogan advocating sexual equality in the years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, as well as the objective of Chinese women for years.

This year's International Women's Day, on March 8, however, has reminded many that Chinese women are currently outperforming males in many fields.

"It seems that I am working in an office of a matriarchal society," said Zhao Xiaohui, a male employee with a leading Beijing-based bank, making reference to the number of female colleagues in his workplace.

Statistics show that female entrepreneurs account for 20 percent of the national total, and 41 percent of the country's private sector enterprise owners are women.

Evolving from subservient housewives into ambitious professionals, the profound changes taking place with regard to the roles of Chinese women can be largely attributed to the actions of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, who urged women to pursue careers.

Forty-nine-year old businesswoman Guo Ruifang can still recall her grandmother's beaming face in 1949, the year of the founding of the People's Republic of China, when she left behind her foot bandages and began working.

"My grandmother's generation had great desire to work in a male environment because those women were raised up from the lowest social strata to become the true masters of society," said Guo.

As class struggle gave way to economic development, Chinese women began to enjoy privileges and the essence of womanhood.

Compared with their grandmothers and mothers, modern Chinese women are more open to challenges and opportunities and more confident in decision-making.

Increasingly, Chinese women are challenging their male colleagues in a variety of professions, including those traditionally monopolized by men, through the use of their special talents, charisma and courage.

Liu Shuwei, a female researcher with the Central University of Finance and Economics, recently uncovered a fraud case in a well-known, listed company and protected the interests of many ill-informed investors, despite receiving a death threat.

Widely applauded for her courageous act, Liu was dubbed the "the fraud buster of China's business environment."

Zhang Heping, a male university professor, pointed out that many people had access to the information that Liu released, but she was courageous enough to reveal the truth.

Official figures showed that women contributed to 40 percent of China's gross domestic product in 2001. They will surely contribute more in the future.

(Xinhua News Agency March 8, 2003)