China amends women’s protection law

Businesses need to strengthen the protection of the rights and interests of females

On 30 October 2022, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress approved a new amendment to the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Females (the “Amended Law”), which will come into force from 1 January 2023.

The Amended Law first came into force on 1 October 1992, being later amended in 2005 and 2018 and now again in 2022. In this latest round of updates, a number of new requirements have been incorporated into the Amended Law to strengthen the protection of females. We have selected the key articles in the Amended Law related to employment and set out our input below for businesses’ reference for the purpose of day-to-day human resources management.