Financial health is a key concept that has been carrying by Chinese Academy of Financial Inclusion (CAFI) as always, and the female perspective has always been a focus in financial inclusion. On March 4, to celebrate the upcoming 111th International Women's Day, CAFI and Changtou, an online wealth management learning platform, held a conference to release the report “Women's Financial Health Status in China” (hereinafter referred to as the “Report”). At the conference, people dug into women's financial health and its impact on family financial resilience and shared the key findings of the Report. The Report is based on more than 2,000 valid questionnaires and 10 odd interviews and provides insights into Chinese women's financial health.

The conference was moderated by Mei Lu, Senior Advisor of CAFI. First, Shuo Wang introduced the key findings of the study. As a researcher of CAFI and the project leader, she introduced that the Report found that women's financial health is suboptimal. The conclusion is based on the analysis of four dimensions, i.e., daily income and expense management, financial resilience, investment outlook, and financial capability. Education, employment and marital status (age) are the main factors differentiating women's financial priorities and values. The Report also makes recommendations such as increasing women's financial acumen and improving their financial health so that they are more confident of their financial outlook.

The conference gathered representatives from international organizations and academia. Ms. Annie Cheng, Vice President of Visa and Head of Corporate Communications of Visa Greater China, and Xiugen Mo, Vice President and Research Director of CAFI, provided a more in-depth interpretation of research related to women's financial education and empowerment and financial health and shared their thoughts. Journalists present also joined the interaction.

In her speech, Yanqing Zhu, Head of Public Affairs of Changtou, mentioned that along with economic development and social progress, the “role” Chinese women are playing goes beyond their families and helps them fulfill their value to a greater extent. Today's society provides women with more sources of income and choices; they can improve their financial health via online learning. As an online wealth management learning platform, Changtou stands ready to play an active role in upgrading the market, raising the awareness of all, and inspiring them to take action.

Yu Luo, Associate Professor at the School of Finance, Renmin University of China, made a positive comment on the Report and briefly introduced the history and characteristics of the female perspective in financial inclusion.

In the end, CAFI's President Doguang Bei summarized the conference. He said that how to improve the financial literacy and financial health of individuals or specific groups not only matters to the family financial resilience, but also to the development of every family, micro and small businesses, and the overall economic growth. He also said that it is imperative to focus on women's financial health and improve financial literacy for vulnerable micro businesses if we are to promote economic development both in quantity and quality during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

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