BEIJING - Women's participation in decision making and management has markedly improved in China, said a white paper issued Tuesday.

China values the role of women in people's congresses by improving their representation in the ranks of deputies to people's congresses at various levels, said the white paper on the country's gender equality and women's development.

The ratio of women deputies to the first session of 12th National People's Congress in 2013 was 23.4 percent, 2.4 percentage points higher than 20 years ago; ethnic minority women deputies made up 41.3 percent of the total number of ethnic minority deputies, according to the white paper.

China sets store on improving women's participation in socialist consultative democracy and the role of representatives of women's federations and women delegates to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), it said.

The proportion of women members at the first session of the 12th CPPCC national committee in 2013 was 17.8 percent, 4.1 percentage points higher than 20 years ago, figures showed.

The ratio of women members in all other political parties (other than the Communist Party of China) is higher than 20 years ago, it says.

The number of women participating in the management of state public affairs keeps increasing, according to the white paper.

In 2013, the female employment ratio in central government agencies and their subsidiaries reached 47.8 percent. In recent years, the number of newly employed women civil servants has also increased steadily at local levels, it said.