Outcome CHN_D_5.1

China’s international financing, investments and business engagements, including through connectivity initiatives, programmes and projects, contribute to SDG attainment in partner countries

During 2023, some progress was made toward government bodies, research institutions and private sector entities in China having increased knowledge and capacity in gender-sensitive financing, and the ability to advance gender equality through gender responsive financing tools, guidance and practices. UN Women nurtured important relationships with research institutes, private sector entities, government partners, and sister UN agencies. Together with these partners, we implemented high-level dialogues; conducted foundational research; developed training tools; and launched new joint initiatives aimed at increasing knowledge and understanding of gender-sensitive financing and effective gender responsive financing tools among key stakeholders. UN Women forged strategic partnerships with think tanks and research institutions, including the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), with which we convened high-level multi-stakeholder dialogues on financing for gender equality, creating platforms for exploring issues including gender-smart investment and business practices ) and promoting financing for gender equality in innovation, technology, and digital education (2023 DigitALL - Symposium on Gender-Responsive Technology and Innovation in the 21st Century). UN Women and CCG co-hosted a dialogue “Promoting Gender-Smart Business Practices & Investment” on September 6 th as part of the 2023 Global Talent Sustainable Development Forum at the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS). The event encouraged participants, including from the public and private sector, to share best practices, success stories, and strategies for promoting responsible and gender-smart business and investment practices in order to accelerate progress toward SDG 5. UN Women, together with the International Institute for Green Finance (IIGF), developed a landscape analysis, mapping existing sustainable financing initiatives through desk research and stakeholder interviews, analyzing opportunities and challenges for promoting gender financing in China, and identifying key stakeholders for engagement in high-potential areas. The landscape analysis is informing UN Women China office's future programming direction in the sustainable financing and has informed the design of a technical workshop for participants from government, IFIs, MDBs, academic institutions, and CSOs that will delve into different modalities for gender financing and raise awareness of best practices among key actors, as well as a series of learning salons and networking sessions aimed at building a network of diverse stakeholders working on gender financing and facilitating meaningful collaboration among these actors. A policy brief will be developed based on the landscape analysis and subsequent learning events. UN Women, together with UNDP, UNICEF, and ILO have come together to advocate for the UN and international standards and business practices on Responsible Business Conduct to be adopted and implemented by Chinese enterprises operating overseas to contribute towards achievement of the SDGs. Entities jointly developed a “Scoping Report: Collaboration on Promoting Responsible Business Conduct of Chinese Overseas Investment for the Contributions to the SDGs” and an accompanying practical Responsible Business Practices Handbook for Chinese companies, which will be piloted through learning sessions in the coming year. In support of China’s evolving role as an international development cooperation (IDC) actor and to promote demand-driven and gender-responsive IDC projects, a joint programme led by UNDP with UN Women, FAO, and WHO, in partnership with the EU has been developed —“ Effective Multilateralism in China towards advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.” UN Women is the lead partner for delivering on GEWE aspects of the joint programme, which will be formalized into agreement in early 2024 and come into effect the same year. Under the programme, UN Women will deliver tools and training to strengthen Chinese government, private sector, and financial sector capacities for SDG 5-aligned orientation.

China’s international financing, investments and business engagements, including through connectivity initiatives, programmes and projects, contribute to SDG attainment in partner countries

China made notable progress toward enhancing international development cooperation, investments, and business engagement to contribute to SDG attainment in partner countries. This is evident in the following actions: making “strengthening international exchanges and mutual learning for global women’s development” as a go-forward priority in China’s Beijing+30 National Review Report ; the emphasis on GEWE thirty times in the FOCAC Beijing Action Plan (2025-2027) , for which UN Women provided technical inputs ; and the launch of the Exchange and Training Base of Global Women's Development Cooperation by CIDCA and ACWF to operationalize China’s continued efforts to “support women’s international development cooperation” to “safeguard the rights and interests of women and improve their livelihoods”. UN Women contributed to this progress by investing in evidence-based research to inform interventions, supporting strategic convenings to build multi-stakeholder buy-in and momentum, and developing strategic partnerships that enable UN Women to provide technical assistance and normative support, aligned with the CSW68 recommendations and other global commitments. To help build the ecosystem’s buy-in toward financing, investments, and business engagements for GEWE, the office positioned itself as an important convener that can influence key stakeholders from government and regulators, financial institutions, academia, etc. This includes collaborating with the Chinese International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) and the Center for China and Globalization to advocate for sustainable financing and development cooperation for GEWE during International Women’s Day. UN Women also engaged over 50 representatives from 47 financial institutions and government agencies in learning salons with IIGF, enhancing their knowledge of innovative gender-responsive tools and practices, achieving 100% satisfaction and 88% reported gain of valuable insights and practical guidance in post-learning surveys. At the Ringing the Bell for Gender Equality ceremony of Shenzhen Stock Exchange, UN Women advocated for private-sector buy-in to join the WEPs and advance gender equality. To mobilize other key partners in advancing gender-responsive financing and normative commitments, the office forged new partnerships with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation (CAITEC) under the Ministry of Commerce and the International Institute for Green Finance (IIGF) under the Central University for Finance and Economics , enabling UN Women to influence policy research, data generation, and capacity development for embedding GEWE into China’s South-South Cooperation and sustainable finance efforts. UN Women serves as a strategic advisor to IIGF within the China Green Finance Committee (GFC) on advancing sustainable finance for GEWE through policy/regulatory advocacy and industry-led initiatives . Significant progress was also made to formalize a cooperation framework with the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), which will be an important step forward to integrate GEWE into China’s international development cooperation agenda. UN Women contributed to knowledge and capacity building on gender finance through the development of evidence-based research. Building on a 2023 joint study with IIGF, the office published a landscape summary of key stakeholders, gaps, and opportunities in gender finance, serving as a resource for regulatory and organizational improvements in China. UN Women also partnered with UNICEF, UNDP, and ILO to launch the Responsible Business Practices handbook and provide RBP training to over 75 participants from major Chinese companies with businesses abroad, equipping them with gender-sensitive tools and standards to align with SDG 5 and GEWE principles. To promote gender mainstreaming in business practices and with the goal of engaging government and regulators on normative support to strengthen ESG disclosure, UN Women collected crucial evidence from over 30 financial institutions on how they integrate gender into their ESG frameworks and business practices; this research will be critical in building the office’s technical assistance and policy advocacy efforts. As a result of these efforts two new transformative programmes were launched through incremental non-core funding, further engaging targeted government entities, multilateral development banks and other financial institutions in China, to further enhance their knowledge and capacity in gender-sensitive financing and the adaptation of gender responsive financing tools, guidance, and practices.

China’s international financing, investments and business engagements, including through connectivity initiatives, programmes and projects, contribute to SDG attainment in partner countries

In 2022, some progress has been made by China CO under this outcome area, including the development of a draft of a joint scoping report ‘Chinese Firms’ Overseas Operations: The Responsible Business Conduct Regulatory Framework Scoping Report’ and a training manual ‘Handbook of Responsible Business Conduct, Promoting Responsible Business Conduct of Chinese Overseas Investment for the Contributions to the SDGs’ has been developed jointly by UN Women, UNDP, UNICEF and the ILO, focusing on promoting responsive business conduct of Chinese companies practices, including in their investment and operation overseas. When finalised, the knowledge products will be used to support advocacy and capacity development initiatives for partners, which will ultimately contribute to SDG attainment of China’s international development financing, investments and business engagement in partner countries. At least 12 UN agencies in China and over 900 company representatives have been trained on gender responsive procurement, particularly on the support services for women owned SMEs, by UN Women in partnership with UNDP in support for an implementation of UNDP programme “Knowledge Sharing and Capacity Building Programme on Sustainable Procurement of UN/International Organisations". UN Women provided technical support for training the partners on gender responsive procurement practices. A landscape analysis of gender financing status in China has been initiated by UN Women China CO to identify opportunities as well as potential challenges, for the CO to work in this area more strategically. Outcome of the analysis will draw a roadmap for China CO to identify its strategy, including partners, to promote gender responsive financing in China. Through UN system’s collective efforts and under the leadership of the RC, UN Women contributed to the collective efforts of advocating for SDG principles to be included in follow-up initiatives of the 2021 FOCAC (Forum on China Africa Cooperation) Outcomes. On 18 January 2022, the ‘Symposium Following the 8 th FOCAC Ministerial Conference’ was held in Beijing, and was co-hosted by the African Ambassadors Group in China, the African Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the West Asia and Africa Department of Ministry of Commerce, and the UN in China. The event was attended by a wide range of partners including Chinese and African government, experts, international organisations and private sector. UN Women China CO provided thought leadership at the Symposium and advocated for women’s rights to be put at the centre of China-Africa collaboration.

China’s international financing, investments and business engagements, including through connectivity initiatives, programmes and projects, contribute to SDG attainment in partner countries.

There has been some progress in achieving this outcome. FOCAC Dakar Action Plan (2022-2024) For the first time ever, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Dakar Action Plan (2022-2024) and the Dakar Declaration of the Eight Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation includes commitments on gender equality, with both sides agreeing to “ strengthen China-Africa cooperation for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment on the respect of different custom and culture especially in the areas of employment, leadership, decent work, entrepreneurship, education and life-learning, agriculture, health-care, prevention and response to gender-based violence, and access to finance”. With support from the UN Resident Coordinator, this was achieved through UN Women’s technical guidance, lobbying, and consultations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), the African Union, selected African Member States (including the Republic of Senegal, FOCAC co-Chair, and the African Union) and sister UN Women offices in Africa. This is a massive normative achievement that will allow targeted initiatives to develop under FOCAC that will address the critical, cross-cutting inequities affecting women and girls on the continent. Moreover, it paves the way for UN Women to demonstrate its thought leadership and position itself as a technical partner of choice under FOCAC and has programmatic and resource mobilization implications for UN Women China as well as Regional and Country Offices in Africa. Inter -agency partnership to promote UN standards and responsible business conduct (RBC) in China’s overseas engagements. An inter-agency partnership has been forged by UNDP, UNICEF, ILO, and UN Women, to promote UN standards and business practices that are relevant to responsive business conduct (RBC) and implementing SDGs in Chinese partners’ overseas engagements. As a start, technical solutions and practical experience have been disseminated to around 20 key stakeholders (who are mainly industry associations and businesses) through a seminar on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG): “Social Integration in RCEP Countries: Sustainable Labor Management” organized by UNDP in cooperation with ILO, UNICEF and UN Women in August 2021. As a result of this partnership, in 2022, UN Women will work with sister agencies to produce a guidebook on promoting responsible business conduct of Chinese private sector for the Contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals, focusing on Chinese companies involved in foreign investment and business operations overseas, with a focus on mainstreaming the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). Policy advocacy in the 13 Ministry Policy to “Support Female Technology Talent to play a bigger role in Technology and Innovation” in June 2021. China launched a 13 Ministry Policy to “Support Female Technology Talent to play a bigger role in Technology and Innovation” in June 2021. UN Women alone with UNDP, UNFPA and ILO, with the support from RCO, organized an joint event with the UAE Embassy, invited Chinese policy maker, representatives of Chinese female scientist, UAE female scientists, talked about challenges met by women scientists in China and the UAE, initiatives that undertook by UAE to encourage and support more women’s participation in STEM and the potential opportunities that the Chinese policy could bring to women scientists in China.