A six-year project was launched Thursday by the Chinese Women's College (CWC) and the University of Manitoba of Canada (UMC) on cultivating social service personnel to better protect the interests of the Chinese women in rural areas.

CWC President Zhang Lixi, who is also director of the project on the Chinese side, said economic reform and the country's entry into the World Trade Organization have had great impact on Chinese citizens, especially women.

Latest statistics showed as high as 80 percent of the agricultural work is shouldered by women in some rural areas in China, since most men labor now in urban areas. However, the income of rural women is just half of men's, due to their lack of marketing knowledge.

Apart from that, urban and rural disparities lowered the disadvantaged position of rural women, said Zhang, adding that discrimination against women and family violence still existed.

The project, test launched in Beijing, southwest China's Sichuan Province and north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, includes giving post-graduate courses on social service to CWC teaching staff and training personnel in charge of women's affairs at the county level.

James Gardner, representative of the UMC, said the project may help improve the educational and living skills of rural women and thus level up their position in family and society.

Currently, most social service staff received education on anthropology and politics, and were without direct work experience, so China is in urgent need of improving its public service sector, he added.