All-China Women's Federation

The All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) (or “Women's Federation,” known as Fulian in Chinese) is the official state-sponsored organization representing women's interests in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in April 3, 1949, its basic mission is to represent and safeguard the rights and interests of women and promote gender equality. The Women's Federation has advocated policy changes on behalf of women and also played a role in responding to women's issues at a local level. Among its current tasks are to promote and increase literacy rates, technical skills, employment opportunities, and the political participation of women.

The umbrella organization consists of the national and local women's federations, whose administrative structure parallels that of the PRC's political administrative divisions: the national, provincial, prefectural, county, town/township, and village levels. Each tier of the Women's Federation is under the direct supervision of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) committee at its own level. The Women's Federation thus plays a dual role of transmitting and implementing state policy, along with representing women's interests to the state. At present, there are more than 60,000 branches at or above the township level and 980,000 committees at the grassroots level.

The Women's Federation was initially established as a mass organization to support the CCP. Women were mobilized as a force to forward the goals of the CCP and also to further women's interests and rights. While both goals were seen as complementary, the mission of the party took precedence over women's issues. Developments after the post-Mao era, along with 1980s economic reforms, however, have led to many transformations. These include the emergence of other women's organizations, formation of women's studies as a discipline, introduction of issues of global feminism to the PRC, along with the Women's Federation's changing relationship to the state. One of the key transitional moments came in 1995, when China hosted the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women and the NGO (nongovernmental organizations) Forum in Beijing. The international stature of the conference brought the Women's Federation funding and publicity, and more attention to women's issues. It also exposed members to global gender issues and international women's NGOs. Around this time, the Women's Federation began referring to itself as an NGO. This gesture can be seen as a measure to acquire legitimacy as a body representing women's rights, to gain international recognition and funding, and to enable ties with other NGOs. As its Web site reads, the Women's Federation “is the largest women's NGO in China promoting women's rights.”

The Women's Federation's adoption of NGO status, however, has been widely contested and debated, given its close relationship with the state. Balancing the dual role of the Women's Federation as a state-funded and state-supervised entity with its identity as an organization actively advocating for women's issues still remains a challenge.