Female business leaders take the spotlight at Women· Reform· Leadership Forum

Women can be half the sky in the business world and some foreign companies actually have more women leaders in their China office than their overseas offices, participants said during a forum hosted by Shanghai Daily on Wednesday. 

The Women· Reform· Leadership Forum aims to honor outstanding companies and females for their achievement in pursuing gender equality and women's leadership. 

Six Women Leadership Outstanding Contribution Awards were given out along with 15 Women Leadership Innovation Awards at the forum.

The Women Leadership program is held by the Office of Shanghai Ethical and Cultural Building Committee and Shanghai Women’s Federation in partnership with British Consulate General in Shanghai. 

Focusing on outstanding female achievements in various industries and fields, the program is designed to empower women's career and leadership and push forward gender equality in companies.

One of the winners is Vivian Xiao, head of integrated communications for China at Signify, who said confidence is crucial for women to be good business leaders.

Jean Liu, executive vice president and chief corporate affairs officer at EF Education First, said women executives accounted for 60 percent at EF China offices, above the proportion of 50 percent for EF worldwide.

"We are doing better in our China office," Liu said.

Bayer, Sephora, Baxter, Eaton, Amway, DSM, Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, GM, Dow Chemical, EY and PwC are among the winning companies.

According to a recent survey by EY, female-run businesses are targeting more ambitious growth margins than male-led companies, as 30 percent of companies with women leaders are aiming at growth rates of more than 15 percent in the next 12 months, compared with just 5 percent of those led by men.