China's ranking

Of all countries, Russia has the most female executives; 46 percent of the senior management positions there are held by women.

Next in the ranking are Botswana, Thailand and the Philippines, where women hold 39 percent of such positions.

Countries with the lowest percentages in that regard were Japan, where women hold less than 5 percent of executive positions, and Germany, where they hold less than 13 percent.

China's ranking places it higher in the list than France, Switzerland, Britain, the United States and other developed economies.

Cheng attributed the country's spot to its having a large number of women in its workforce, to the existence of the well-known proverb that says "women hold up half of the sky" and to the support Chinese working women usually receive from their families.

"Most grandparents in China are willing to care for their grandchildren full time so that young mothers can go back to work sooner," Cheng said.

Cheng, the mother of a 9-year-old, said it is hard for women who lack support from their families to strike a balance between their work and their lives.

Xu said women should be allowed to work flexible hours so they can attend to both their jobs and their families.

Only 24 percent of Chinese companies have followed similar suggestions, a percentage that is far smaller on the Chinese mainland than it is in many other countries and regions, and only slightly above the comparable figures for Japan and Taiwan.

"More flexible working hours will let a greater proportion of women achieve senior positions in the future," Xu said.

Wang said managers should adopt a neutral system to appraise women's performances.

She said current evaluation methods look at a person's decisiveness and air of authority and are therefore not suited to gauging female executives' abilities.

A system that recognizes someone with a spirit of cooperation or who is willing to participate can help to promote women to top management positions, she said.

Cheng said women should not spend large amount of time thinking about how their gender affects their careers.

"Do your job well, be professional and work hard," she said. "You will be rewarded."

A market economy places no hurdles before women, said Zhou Xiaoguang, a National People's Congress deputy and chairman of Neoglory Holding Group, a company that produces accessories for women.

"Women often get a lot of support from businessmen."

She said it would be counterproductive to adopt policies that favor women at work.

"When competition is intense, policies that are favorable specifically to women only raise the cost of having female employees," said Zhou, whose company's research and development team is half composed of women.

"Women should have to struggle just like men."

Zhou Yan contributed to this story.

wangzhuoqiong@chinadaily.com.cn