BEIJING, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) — More than half a century ago, Xi Jinping, then a teenager, was among millions of “educated youths” sent from cities to live and work in the countryside.

In Liangjiahe, a poor village on the Loess Plateau, he witnessed firsthand the hardships of rural life. The heavy burdens borne by women left a particular impression on him.

Xi once said to Wu Hui, a local villager and friend: “Why is the life of a woman always so hard?”

For him, this was not merely a lament. Even at that young age, he was already searching for ways to improve people’s lives.

Xi arrived in Liangjiahe before turning 16. He spent seven years there, joining the Communist Party of China (CPC), and later serving as the village’s Party chief.

Back then, the farming work for local villagers was quite heavy, and farmers’ clothes would wear out quickly. After a long day of labor in the fields, women still had to sit by dim kerosene lamps at night, doing the mending and sewing work for the whole family.

To ease the burden of rural women, Xi organized the villagers to establish a sewing cooperative.

Wu, who worked with him at that time, once recalled that the cooperative recruited skilled seamstresses to run sewing services, and the villagers made payments with a share of their income, their “work points,” for this service.

Thanks to the cooperative, local women who were good at sewing could earn an income via their skills, while others could focus on their production work without having to juggle it with household chores.

Over the years, Xi has always believed that women should not be confined to the narrowness of the eye of a needle — but should instead reach for the broader horizons of the outside world.

In March 1990, when he served as the Party chief of Ningde prefecture in east China’s Fujian Province, Xi published an article in a local newspaper to refute certain discriminatory views toward women held by some people at that time — and stressed the important role of local women in social development.

“It was once said that rural women are bound to work around the stove, not the podium, nor the public stage,” he wrote.

“However, numerous irrefutable facts have repeatedly proven that during the period of socialist revolution and construction, countless women in eastern Fujian (Ningde) walked away from the stoves, stepped out of their homes, and entered society, engaging in various forms of work and also participating in political activities,” Xi noted in his newspaper piece.

“History and reality tell us that women, who make up more than half of the population, are a tremendous force driving the progress of society. Every achievement of ours carries within it the hard work of women,” Xi said in the article.

Xi was born into a revolutionary family, and his parents, Xi Zhongxun and Qi Xin, both participated in the revolution at a young age and were very dedicated to their work.

In the 1950s, when Qi worked far from home, she was only able to return home once a week by bus on weekends. To avoid affecting his wife’s work, the elder Xi, who held key positions as a senior Party and state official at the time, took on a larger share of childcare responsibilities in his spare time, including bathing the children and doing their laundry.

Qi recalled that her husband never asked her to sacrifice her personal development to take care of the family full-time.

Like his father, Xi Jinping has proven to be a supportive husband.

His wife, Peng Liyuan, is a celebrated singer in China. Due to her packed performance schedules, she often had to travel and perform, leaving little time to stay at home.

Lin Wenxiu, a former official with the local women’s federation in Fujian, who was familiar with their family while Xi worked in the province, recalled that Peng, on one occasion, told her that she once thought of giving up her career, so that she could spend more time at home and take care of their daughter.

Xi, however, talked Peng out of the idea. “I cannot be so selfish,” he said, encouraging her to stay committed to her artistic career.

Peng used to perform at the annual Spring Festival gala broadcast nationwide on the eve of the Chinese New Year in Beijing, when Xi worked outside the capital. Provided he had time to spend the festival with his family in Beijing, he would make dumplings at home while watching the gala and wait until Peng finished her work. The family would then boil the dumplings when Peng came home and have their festival dinner together.

Throughout his political career, both at local and central levels, Xi has placed special emphasis on women’s development. This approach continues in his capacity as China’s top leader.

Since the CPC’s 18th National Congress in 2012, Xi has made multiple important speeches, instructions and comments on work related to the issue.

He stressed the need to create a favorable environment, remove barriers, and provide conditions for women’s all-round development in accordance with laws and regulations, and to foster a positive culture in which women are respected.

He once called for special attention to be paid to some difficulties and problems women face in pursuing their development and safeguarding their rights and interests, urging relevant authorities to address these problems.

China has made significant progress in women’s development under Xi’s leadership, and his commitment to this cause has extended beyond national borders.

“China’s experiences show that a higher level of social and economic participation by women helps to raise their status, and it also boosts social productivity and invigorates the economy,” Xi said in his speech at the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in September 2015, pledging greater efforts to support women in realizing their own dreams and aspirations in both career and life.

Five years later, at a UN General Assembly high-level meeting on the 25th anniversary of the landmark Fourth World Conference on Women, Xi urged efforts to support women and help them live their lives to the full.

In his speech via video link, Xi called for joint and intensified efforts to promote gender equality and advance the global cause of women’s development.

Next week, Xi will address the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women in Beijing. On occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, which was also held in Beijing in 1995, the upcoming meeting is expected to be another milestone in the history of global women’s development. ■