Angela Liu represented China's new generation of women, attending the famous Zhejiang University before working her way up at a company and earning a higher salary than her husband, a public servant. All that changed when she turned 30 and gave birth to her first child. Very few women remain in senior positions at her bank, and therefore she quit to become a full-time housewife.

像许多其他中国新一代女性，刘女士就读于浙江大学并且在毕业后找到一份稳定的工作，薪酬高于她当公务员的丈夫。但当她30岁生下第一个孩子时，一切都变了。很少有女性能够在银行担任高级职位，因此刘女士决定辞职成为全职家庭主妇。

For decades, ideologically-imposed gender equality empowered women to pursue university degrees and ambitious careers in China. Market-oriented reforms, however, have eroded the institutions designed to help women, while outdated policies hostile to working women, such as hiring discrimination, remain.

几十年来，意识形态上传播的性别平等让女性有攻读学位和打拼事业的雄心。然而事实上，以市场为导向的政策改革削弱了那些旨在为广大女性提供切实有效帮助和支持的机构，而那些对职业女性不利的过时政策依然存在，如针对女性的就业歧视。

However, "in China, especially in tech companies, we are creating a new kind of corporate culture," says Bianca Yin, a project manager at Didi, China's largest ride-hailing platform.

但是，滴滴的项目经理尹女士表示，"在中国，特别是在科技公司，我们正在创造一种新的企业文化。"

Didi president, Jean Liu, a former managing director at Goldman Sachs, was the mother of young children when she was recruited to run the start-up. Didi's staff said having such a role model in the business boosted morale. The company has set up a women's network and piloted a leadership course.

刘青，原高盛亚洲区董事总经理，决定加盟滴滴出任总裁时的她还是三个孩子的母亲。滴滴的员工说公司中有这样一个榜样，十分鼓舞团队士气。不仅如此，滴滴出行更是于去年宣布由CEO程维和总裁柳青共同发起成立女性职业成长计划"滴滴女性联盟"，以在激发公司多元文化氛围,推动高潜能女性更快成长,创造更有利于女性职场发展的工作环境。这是中国互联网公司第一个推出的针对女性职业发展的计划。

"She understands us, what career development should look like and what challenges remain," says Ms. Yin. She took Didi's leadership course, and now heads Didi's women's network.

"刘总裁十分理解我们，也了解身为女性在职业发展中会面临的挑战，"尹女士说。她参与了滴滴的女性领导力项目，并负责管理"滴滴女性联盟"的运营。

Yet successful women say they are still struggling with doing business, especially in industries, such as finance, which remain mostly run by men.

然而，一些成功的职场女性依然表示职业发展具有较大的难度，尤其在那些被男性主导的行业与领域，如金融。

Women bear the burden of reading the situation when professional and social spheres collide, even feeling guilty if they spurn romantic overtures from a potentially helpful contact, says Annie Zhou, founder of Universal Pacific Advisors, a consulting company.

环球太平洋咨询公司的创始人周女士表示，女性经常承担着职场中人脉积累与社交生活发生碰撞所带来的后果。她们时常需要面对在经营人脉的过程当中，被客户追求表白的尴尬局面。

She gave up some of her contacts, believing that not even a professional relationship was worth the emotional stress but recognizes that others might not be able to do the same. "What women [in China] face is that a lot of the time they have potential business relationships with these people, so they feel uncomfortable telling them that they are uncomfortable."

由于周女士认为职业发展与私人生活应保持独立分开的关系，她不得已放弃了很多客户，但她也意识到其他人可能做不到这一点。"在中国很多女性面临的问题是，不知道如何拒绝客户的请求而不伤害到潜在的业务关系。"

Yet overall, women in business in China say circumstances are improving, particularly when the momentum is maintained by trailblazers.

但总体而言，中国商界女性表示情况正在改善，尤其是在那些成功职场女性的影响下。

Ms. Tu says: "A big part of [gender equality] is awareness - envisioning some female leaders who are pretty advanced in their careers and who, through being that role model, [affect] more women throughout the company."

图女士说，"实现职场性别平等的关键之一是意识-我们需要清楚意识到目前存在的一大批杰出女性领导者，而她们存在的本身就能影响更多的女性。