At an event held to discuss how to eradicate gender discrimination in workplace, United Kingdom's Ambassador to China Barbara Woodward said advancing women's salary equality worldwide may add $12 trillion to global economic growth.

Hosted by Woodward on Dec 17, the event themed "Be Yourself: Pledge for Progress" brought together 22 UK and Chinese enterprises to discuss practical actions on fostering gender equal practices in organizations.

Woodward stressed at the opening speech that, as the first female British envoy to China, she wants all women in this country to have the same opportunities for promotion as men.

She said women's empowerment is an economic necessity. According to a McKinsey study, advancing women's equality in the Asia-Pacific countries alone could add $4.5 trillion to their collective annual GDP in 2025. Calculations estimate that closing the gender pay gap would add $100 billion to the UK economy, and one report suggested there would be a $2.5 trillion increase in China.

Globally, this could add $12 trillion to global growth, she added.

"I believe government has a special role to play in fulfilling this potential. We must seek to inspire, to set the direction and provide the policy framework," she said, adding that government's role is only part of the story and businesses play a crucial role in moving the gender equality agenda forward.

Woodward awarded certificates to companies who made pledges at the event. Among the companies, Qyer pledged to increase 20 percent training budget in 2019 for both male female employee's career development and personal development. PwC pledged to achieve gender equality in its workplace by taking collective actions to eliminate behaviors of discrimination or unconscious bias.

The Be Yourself campaign was launched in 2016 to raise awareness of the benefits of gender equality to society and the economy. Over 80 companies have made their pledges so far including BP China, Ctrip, McKinsey and Lloyds China. The pledges covered a wide range of gender equality issues, including increasing investment in female leadership training; enabling flexible working practices and reviewing recruitment processes to ensure they are not barriers to employing talented female staff.

The launch of Be Yourself: Pledge for Progress followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the UK's Government Equalities Office and the All China Women's Federation in December 2017 to increase collaboration and exchange between the UK and China on the topic of gender equality.