Promoting gender equality, one of the core values of the United Nations, is a goal shared by all members of the UN Country Team and is a principle that is, as far as possible, reflected in all its plans and programmes. The team's work on gender builds on the solid foundations laid by the Beijing Platform for Action and the recommendations of the Beijing+10 Forum, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Plan of Action, the Convention for Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and the Millennium Development Goals.

The UN Country Team is helping the Government find and implement solutions to the most significant challenges relating to gender equality. Challenges such as closing disparities in wage scales and improving employment opportunities in line with the Labour Law and Women's Law prevail in Chinese society. The UN is also addressing issues in strengthening women's claim to their land rights; balancing the sex ratio at birth; social and political empowerment of women; halting violence against women and protecting the rights of its victims; girls' rights to and in education; and expanding the equality of reproductive health provision.

The UN also has the wider goal of mainstreaming gender which means the UN is ensuring that the interests, concerns and experiences of girls and women are considered as a matter of course. To achieve this, gender advocacy and training is provided to all partners, both inside and outside government, as well as the members of the UN Country Team themselves.

The UN Theme Group on Gender coordinates the country team's gender-related activities and helps the Government towards achieving Millennium Development Goal 3 and in reporting on CEDAW implementation. The China Gender Facility, a UN joint programme established by the theme group, annually invites proposals for innovative and catalytic projects dealing with research on contemporary gender issues and on advocacy and social dialogue on gender concerns.