Peng Peiyun said: "It is alarming to see some media blatantly defying one basic policy of this country - the equality between sexes - and advocating the decadent idea that men are superior to women because, given the efficiency of the media in disseminating information and their power in forming people's ideas, the harm could be severe, even though the proportion of the media involved in such wrongdoing is small."

Peng was speaking at a Beijing symposium on the effects of the media on women's development. Taking part were more than 240 media representatives, experts on women's studies and officials.

Peng said that, after more than 50 years' effort, a belief in the equality between men and women has been successfully cultivated in most Chinese.

However, with the focus of Chinese society on economic development, some media have deviated from the correct path for economic gain, said Peng.

In many cases, they use the female image as a cheap way of selling products, she said. More dangerous still is confusion as to what today's women should be.

"There seems to be ever more publicity encouraging women to stay at home or beautifying an extramarital affair," she said. "If we don't do something immediately, our hard-won achievements will be ruined."

Peng also said it is time for the relevant officials to correct the erroneous idea that economic and social development will inevitably bring a corresponding development in women's status.

"The challenges before us are still harsh," she said.

The latest statistics indicate the proportion of urban women aged between 18 and 49 in employment was 16.2 percentage points lower in 1999 than it was in 1990.

The annual per capita income of urban and rural women was only 70.1 percent and 59.6 percent respectively of their male counterparts' income.

(China Daily December 29, 2001)