Resources

Kehan Wang
Researcher, Center for China and Asia-Pacific Studies
Universidad del Pacífico (Peru)

October 13, 2025, China hosted the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Beijing, co-organized with UN Women to commemorate thirty years since the historic UN Fourth World Conference on Women. In his keynote address, President Xi Jinping reaffirmed China’s commitment to advancing women’s rights and called for new momentum for the global pursuit of gender equality and women’s development.

China’s newly released White Paper on Advancement of Women’s Development celebrated domestic progress in education, health, and labor participation. It portrays Chinese women as both beneficiaries and active participants in economic growth, science, and political governance, highlighting positive transformations towards gender equality in all aspect of Chinese society. 

However, this progress also prompts a key question for observers of China’s expanding global presence: are these same commitments reflected in the country’s overseas investments, particularly along the Belt and Road?

This question lies at the center of a new project on Gender and a Just Energy Transition (JET – Gender), at the Center for China and Asia-Pacific Studies (CECHAP) of the Universidad del Pacífico. As part of a broader initiative of research and policy dialogue, called “Capitalizing on the New Climate Economy in the Americas”, our research examines how Chinese investment in South America’s extractive and renewable energy sectors affects women’s lives and opportunities—and how these impacts can be managed more equitably.

Across Latin America, Chinese enterprises have become major actors in mining and energy. In Peru, they operate some of the country’s most significant copper mines—Las Bambas (MMG/China Minmetals), Toromocho (Chinalco) and more recently, La Arena (Zijing), as well as the iron mine at Marcona (Shougang).  They also exercise significant control over the generation and transmission of electricity, are active holders of major public works projects, and are the majority owners of the new Chancay megaport. These investments have reshaped local and regional economies, bringing both benefits and tensions.

The gendered impacts are complex. Women in mining regions, for example, often bear disproportionate burdens—rising costs of living, pollution, increased unpaid care, and limited participation in formal employment. However, these projects also create new spaces for women’s empowerment. Mining-led infrastructure and service improvements have expanded access to health and education. Employment in catering, administration, logistics, and community engagement has provided local women with unprecedented income opportunities, even if concentrated in traditionally “feminine” sectors.

Despite these positive examples, gaps persist. Chinese mining companies still employ few women in technical or decision-making roles and rarely integrate gender perspectives into environmental and social management. Most follow general CSR frameworks without gender-specific goals or monitoring mechanisms. For China to align its overseas operations with the spirit of Beijing 2025, gender equality must move from rhetoric to structured policy practice, urgently.

That means conducting gender-sensitive impact assessments, setting transparent targets for women’s hiring and promotion, and ensuring women’s meaningful participation in consultation and benefit-sharing processes. Partnerships with women-led businesses and organizations can also strengthen local supply chains while fostering inclusive development.

Host countries, too, have a vital role. As signatories of frameworks like EITI and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, governments in Latin America must ensure that foreign investment aligns with their own commitments to equality and social inclusion. 

The JET-Gender project aims to bridge these agendas by generating evidence and policy insights on how gender equity can become an integral part of both mining and renewable energy value chains.

The message from Beijing 2025 was clear: gender equality remains essential to sustainable development. The challenge now is to ensure that these principles extend beyond China’s borders—into the mining camps of Peru and the communities across the Andes and along the Pacific Coast, where women are redefining what development means on their own terms.

 Photo: Global Times