"There is an unmissable opportunity to look at building a different economic modal that supports women's livelihoods and use the recovery to shape a more sustainable, just and equal world," said Smriti Aryal, head of UN Women China, in her opening speech during the 2021 International Conference on Gender Equality and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Beijing on Wednesday.

Aryal also said that there lies a tremendous opportunity to put women at the center of the green sector as many Chinese enterprises are shifting their business modes by applying green technologies. She also emphasized the importance of building a robust mechanism for small- and medium-sized enterprises and workers especially in informal sectors who are more vulnerable to instabilities.

Eleven Chinese businesses were granted Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Awards by UN Women China, in partnership with the Delegation of the European Union to China. These private-sector companies have been addressing gender inequalities in the new normal of a post-COVID-19 world, including providing a gender-inclusive workplace and creating a gender-responsive marketplace.

"Effective actions taken by companies are needed to economically empower women, to provide equal opportunities for women, and to promote their participation in science and technology innovation," said Mu Hong, director-general of the liaison department of the All-China Women's Federation at the event, supported by Rockcheck Puji Foundation and China Enterprise Confederation. "These actions are conducive to stimulating women's potential, and to achieving more sustainable economic growth."

During the conference, private-sector leaders, entrepreneurs along with EU and UN officials reviewed progress made in improving gender policies and discussed the future roadmap to integrate gender equality into company policies and external CSR programs.

Nicolas Chapuis, ambassador and delegation head of the European Union to China, reiterated the EU's commitment towards gender equality and women empowerment in the workplace and pointed out how crucial it is to ensure that pandemic-related recovery measures are gender-sensitive to achieve greater equality in both paid and unpaid work.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, women lost their jobs easier than men and their earnings after they find new employment recovered more slowly. A UN Women report published last month showed that globally women lost more than 54 million jobs in 2019 and 2020. Across 45 countries covered by UN Women's Rapid Gender Assessments, one in five women reported losing their jobs during the pandemic.

Some women entrepreneurs have been striving to keep the business going amid difficulties. In the book She Bounces Back launched by UN Women, female leaders such as school founder Zhang Junru and virologist Shan Sisi, shared their experience on women's leadership in accelerating recovery and building resilience in a post-COVID-19 world.

"I was very worried during the outbreak of the pandemic because our students couldn't get back to school and we had no idea how they were doing at home," said Zhang Junru, founder of a rehabilitation center for autistic children, where two thirds of teachers are female. "The situation has become much better after online courses were introduced to our students and their parents so that we are able to get in touch with their latest developments."

In addition to shifting their businesses online, female business leaders also promote family-friendly policies in workplace. "Each pregnant employee enjoys free taxi services and a maternity allowance of up to 3,000 yuan ($469) in our company," said Jane Sun, the CEO of Trip.com, a Shanghai-based online travel agency.

"For business, it can help reduce labor turnover and improve production efficiency of companies," said Lu Haina, associate professor at Renmin University of China Law school.

Besides the private sector, policy makers also shoulder the responsibility to ease the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on women, as reducing gender disparities would create a world that we all want in the future.