Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business and UN Women Successfully Cohosted the 2019 Women in Leadership Forum on Gender Equality

BEIJING, Nov. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In China, women are underrepresented in the boardroom with only 9.4% of women sitting on boards of publicly traded companies. However, research from McKinsey Global Institute states that if there was no gender pay gap, as much as $28 trillion, or 26 percent, could be added to global annual GDP by 2025. To highlight the discrepancies, CKGSB and UN Women convened an influential lineup of 26 speakers, including Chinese Grand Slam Champion Li Na, 6 ambassadors to China, Australia's Victorian State Government's Minister for Women, 11 corporate executives, and 4 academics at the Women in Leadership Forum held on November 20, 2019, in Beijing.

As China's leading business school and an advocate of women business leaders, CKGSB wanted to create a platform to discuss the challenges women face at the top, and work with UN Women to explore best practices for achieving gender parity. Every year, the forum explores a different topic related to gender equality and this year focuses on "The Power of Equality". Leaders working in government, business, academia and sports flew in from around the world to lend a powerful voice on this important topic.

Speakers included the New Zealand Ambassador to China Clare Fearnley, the Swedish Ambassador to China Helena Sangeland, Minister for Women, Youth and Prevention of Family Violence for the Victorian State Government of Australia the Hon. Gabrielle Williams, President and Chairman of BP China Yang Xiaoping, PGA TOUR Vice President and Greater China Managing Director Greg Gilligan and General Manager of Baidu APP Ping Xiaoli. Topics addressed at the event included, "Driving Business Growth through Gender Balance," "Leading by Example: Gender Equality in the Public Sector," "Female Power in the Age of AI," and "The Role of Male Champions in Gender Balance."

"While a lot of progress has been made globally in reducing gender inequality and empowering women, the progress has been uneven and too slow. Therefore, this platform gives us the opportunity to assess the progress we have made in advancing gender equality; acknowledge the contributions; and renew commitment to continue being the champion and supporter of equality and fairness, to promote a shared bright future for all," says Smriti Aryal, Head of Office for UN Women in China.