BEIJING, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) — The gender gap in China’s science and technology sector is narrowing, and more measures are needed to support female talent in playing a greater role in sci-tech innovation, an expert said.

By the end of 2020, China had a sci-tech human resource reservoir of over 112 million people, more than 40 percent of whom were women, Wang Hongyang, head of the Chinese Women Scientists Association, said at a conference jointly held by the UN Development Programme in China and the UN Women in China on Thursday.

Female students accounted for 47 percent to 55 percent of all enrolled students in Chinese higher education. Women accounted for 54 percent at the undergraduate level, and the proportion at the graduate level is rising steadily.

“Women’s participation in scientific research is a channel for them to exert their potential and influence the world. Their unique perspectives and ways of thinking are conducive to innovation, progress, and sci-tech development,” said Wang, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

China has rolled out a series of policies and measures to support female sci-tech workers in research achievements in recent years. These include raising their retirement age, expanding their age limit for young scientist awards, and giving them more time to apply for research projects.