During the seminar, over 150 women from Asia, Europe and America discussed the roles women play in politics, economics, global development and focused on the future generation of women leaders.

The representatives agreed that encouraging more women to become leaders is essential to the peaceful and healthy development of society.

They stressed attention should be paid to the special attributes of women, like intuition and warmth.

They also point out that many women today think they are less competent than they actually are, which results in a largely self-imposed "invisible ceiling" causing mental barriers to their success.

The seminar called for stronger social awareness of gender throughout the world and appealed for consideration of gender differences in policy making to ensure women's independence and integrity.

The seminar was jointly sponsored by the All-China Women's Federation, the largest and most influential women's network in China, and the International Women's Forum, the foremost global women's organization.

(People's Daily July 5, 2002)