China’s businesswomen rank high for CEO and FD roles

Wednesday, June 08, 2011 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: China , Thought leadership | Tags: business, statistics, China, report, UK, survey, IBR, women in business, CEO, women, CFO, gender, FD, diversity, female, Hong Kong, boardroom diversity, figures

Chinese career women are wasting no time in climbing China’s corporate ladder and are far ahead of their UK counterparts: 34% of senior management positions – 19% (CEO) and 69% (FD or CFO) – in medium to large business in mainland China are held by women, which is miles ahead of the UK on gender diversity.

In fact, UK businesses expanding into Hong Kong and mainland China are increasingly likely to find themselves dealing with a senior female counterpart as the number of Chinese women in strategic management roles steadily rises.

Research from the 2011 Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) shows that women currently hold 34% of senior management positions in China, up from 31% in 2009 and 32% from 2007. In Hong Kong the figure is even higher, at 35%.

By contrast, the UK currently employs 23% of women at senior management level. Globally, women hold just 20% of senior management positions.

The annual IBR surveys more than 11,000 businesses across 39 economies; in China, it questioned 300 companies, including 100 state-owned and public companies and 200 privately held businesses.

The big surprise is that mainland China boasted 19% of senior management females in CEO roles – more than double the global average level of 8% and ranking mainland China second only to Thailand in the 39 surveyed economies.

How do the job roles break down?
Of the companies that employ women in senior managerial positions in China:

• 69% employ them in financial positions, such as chief financial officer (CFO) or finance director (FD).
• 43% are employed as human resource directors
• 37% are employed as sales directors
• 23% are employed as chief operating officers

The figures reflect a growing number of women in higher education who want to play a part in China’s economic success.

Xu Hua, Chairman of Grant Thornton Jingdu Tianhua, said:

“With China rising up to become an economic powerhouse, society offers more and more opportunities for women’s development. The proportion of women receiving higher education has grown in recent years and they currently make up 49% of university students.

“Chinese women also seem to be more aggressive than their counterparts in other countries. According to a research from Newsweek, 75% of Chinese career women long to be senior management and the figure in the US is only 50%.”

Last year, China was also listed in the Washington Post as having the most self-made female entrepreneurs in the world with 11 of the top 20 richest self-made women in the world on the billionaires list.

Image of Shanghai businesswoman Cherie Liem : © Richter Frank-Jurgen  

You might also find these posts useful:

* Which countries are best for women in business?
* UK boards need more women directors – but how?
* Women in the boardroom world map (infographic)