Despite women's increasingly important role in shaping international relations, they should still have a bigger say in the global community, according to speakers at a webinar on Aug. 4.

The webinar was jointly organized by the Center for China Studies in Allameh Tabataba'I University and Beijing Language and Culture University. 

Women from both China and Iran should be stimulated to increase their involvement in developing distinctive cultural relations between the two ancient civilizations.

This was the view of Dr. Zahra Mir Hosseini, a member of the Department of Women's Studies, Al-Zahra University, speaking during a webinar involving Chinese and Iranian scholars. "The active role played by women in international affairs should not only be reckoned as a means to achieve gender equality, but also as an essential influence in reinforcing the development of all human affairs," she pointed out.

"It should also be considered as an endeavor through which a level playing field can be built for everybody to explore their full potential," Hosseini said.

The doctor made her remark at the fourth and final round of the China-Iran Sinology Development and Culture Forum after the COVID-19 Pandemic. The workshop was jointly organized by the Center for China Studies in Allameh Tabataba'I University and Beijing Language and Culture University.

Hosseini's remarks were echoed by her Iranian counterpart Dr. Shahla Bagheri, a member of the Department of Social Sciences, Kharazmi University.

In her speech, entitled "Women, a bridge of deepened cross-cultural exchange between Iran and China", Dr. Bagheri said that as two ancient countries having faced the vicissitudes of history, China and Iran now expected more than ever to cement social and economic ties where women could play a vital role.

According to the Iranian scholar, the elegance and gentleness of women in addition to their scrupulous psychological judgment, utilized appropriately, could accelerate and foster cultural exchanges between the two countries.

The "Silk Road" is rather a mentality of cultural exchange than being literally interpreted as commodities of silks, the doctor elaborated. But, to some extent, the soft and smooth texture of silk can symbolize the meticulous and delicate characteristics of women whose contribution can be used to preserve and develop the common cultural legacies enjoyed by the holistic human race, she said.

Chinese scholars Dr. Liu Hui, member of the School of Asia and African Studies, Shanghai International Studies University and director of the Persian Faculty, and Song Xian, professor of the Institute of World History and a member of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences also joined the webinar.