Impact Story: Driving Women’s Entrepreneurship and Leadership in China

Entrepreneurship is a catalyst for women’s economic empowerment. In China, as in the rest of the world, despite a recent surge in women’s entrepreneurship, women-owned businesses tend to be small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are more vulnerable in emergencies than larger companies are, and many women-owned SMEs are situated in the service sector, which was hit the hardest by the pandemic. Women entrepreneurs often also struggle with greater structural barriers than their male peers do, such as access to markets and networking, and bias from investors. Check out this story to see how UN Women’s WeEmpowerAsia Programme in China has partnered with public and private sector organizations to create opportunities for women entrepreneurs and women-led businesses to grow while promoting gender equality in the workplace, marketplace, and community.