Shen Jilan (LI JIAN)

She is an ordinary farmer, who has served a record 57 years in Chinese politics. Born into poverty, she was the first person in China's history to put forward the concept of "equal pay for equal work" between men and women and as a village cadre she has been received by state leaders on many occasions. 

Her name is Shen Jilan, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee of Xigou Village in north China's Shanxi Province. Born in December 1929, the 82-year-old woman was the most senior female deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature. Elected as a deputy to the NPC from its first session in 1954, she is the only person in China who has served as an NPC deputy for 11 consecutive terms.

Witnessing history

In the 1950s, people in Xigou Village held the old belief that women should stay at home and do the dishes. They didn't enjoy equal opportunity and treatment with men when working. Shen was the first person to break this millennia-old convention.

In 1952, she co-founded an agricultural production cooperative with Li Shunda, another national model worker, pushing for "equal pay for equal work" between men and women. She encouraged women to work in her cooperative and pay them equal salary with men. On January 25, 1953, China's national media People's Daily reported their practice, and Shen's suggestion was adopted into the first Constitution of the People's Republic in 1954.

Her brave move has earned her fame and popularity. In 1954, she was awarded the title of "National Model Worker."  In 1983, she was given the "March 8 (International Women's Day) Red-Banner Pacesetter" title. In 1979 and 1989, she was again honored as a "National Model Worker," later being elected to the Executive Committee of the All-China Women's Federation.

Shen's move was a milestone is the evolution of women's empowerment in China.  In May 2001, the Chinese Government promulgated and implemented the Program for the Development of Chinese Women (2001-10), setting the goal of promoting women's employment. According to the white paper entitled Gender Equality and Women's Development in China, by the end of 2004, the number of both urban and rural women workers reached 337 million nationwide, accounting for 44.8 percent of the total employed; and the number of women workers in urban work units stood at 42.27 million, accounting for 38.1 percent of the total urban work force.

As the longest serving member of China's legislature, Shen has witnessed all these great changes in women's status over the past 50 years. "In the past, women were looked down upon and were supposed to stay at home. Now we have female provincial governors and entrepreneurs. Women are enjoying equal status [with men] both politically and economically." Shen said in an interview with German media Die Welt.