Mainland Chinese women top the world in holding senior business roles, survey shows

Mainland Chinese women topped the world in terms of holding senior business management roles, beating Hong Kong and other advanced economies such as the United States and Britain, a survey by accounting firm Grant Thornton International shows.

The survey, conducted from November to January, found half (51 per cent) of senior management roles in mainland companies were held by women, more than double the 25 per cent from a similar survey last year.

The report, released yesterday, surveyed chief executives or chairmen of 6,627 companies of all industry sectors globally.

Hong Kong women were placed sixth, holding just 30 per cent of top management posts in the city - mainly in human resources and marketing.

In the gender stakes, the city lagged behind the Philippines (37 per cent), Thailand (36 per cent), Vietnam (33 per cent) and Taiwan (31 per cent).

Both mainland China and Hong Kong were ahead of the global average of 24 per cent, and also ranked above Singapore at 27 per cent, the United States at 20 per cent, Britain at 19 per cent and Japan at only 7 per cent.