On July 27th, Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland made a speech on “Female Competitiveness and Gender Equality” at the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC).

CPAFFC Vice President Song Jingwu hosted the event which was attended by Ms Barbara Woodward, the British Ambassador to China, and over 100 representatives from the Chinese National People’s Congress, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Public Security, the Beijing Municipal Government and Beijing Women’s Federation.

Sturgeon reviewed the progress made on women’s rights worldwide and China’s own achievements since the Fourth World Conference on Women hosted by China 20 years ago. She shared some steps taken by Scotland to promote gender equality, and hoped that China can show leadership in this field. She answered questions from the audience after the speech.

Nicola Sturgeon is the first female First Minister in Scotland who had won the Scottish Politician of the Year for many times. She was named as one of “the most influential women” by the BBC. At the invitation of the CPAFFC, she paid a visit to China from July 26th to 30th.