Huawei CFO may draw more Chinese women to business

Westerners may have been surprised to learn from news coming from Canada that Huawei, a major Chinese tech company, has a female chief financial officer.

Many people outside China view the nation as a patriarchal society. But reality is different from perception. I'd like to believe that Chinese women are redefining their role in society and fancy their chances of succeeding in business.

That belief isn't based solely on the rise of Meng Wanzhou, a billionaire, to Huawei's executive suite or the gradual blooming of female executives in big companies. They include bicycle-sharing company Mobike, which is led by Hu Weiwei; Gree Electric Appliances, steered by Dong Mingzhu; and Ant Financial, led by Peng Lei, a self-made billionaire who also co-founded Alibaba.