In the new Politburo, only one of its 25 members is a woman -- Sun Chunlan, head of the party body charged with outreach to non-Communists. It is her second term and she is likely to retire in five years. On the previous Politburo, there were two women, Sun and Vice Premier Liu Yandong - who is past retirement age and has stepped down from the Politburo. One rung down, just 4.9 percent of the new Central Committee, a mere 10 of the body’s 204 members, are women. That number was unchanged from the outgoing Central Committee, which presided for five years, but lower than in 2007-2012 when there were 13.

"The long-standing perception that women's place belongs at home and in the kitchen mean they are not meant to be ambitious," explains Professor Lynette H. Ong, Professor of Political Science at University of Toronto. "Their societal role is to be caregivers to the husbands, children and grandchildren. "Even though Mao once famously said, 'Women hold up half the sky', women still have a long way to go in their fights for equal representation."

“Behaving inappropriately toward women, including harassing them sexually, contradicts every Chinese traditional value and custom,” the author wrote. “Chinese authority deals harshly with those who disrespect themselves by behaving inappropriately toward others.” The reality, sadly, is just the opposite. On Twitter, men and women who have lived in China pointed out that sexual harassment is, in fact, very prevalent in China but is rarely discussed.

Androgyny has become a key signifier of generation Y. From Celine to Off-White, it’s par for the course at fashion week to see a model with short hair in mannish tailoring in a womenswear show. Not so in China, until Lee rose to prominence and brought that aesthetic to the mainstream.

“Times have changed … today men and women are equal,” Mao Zedong pronounced more than half a century ago. “Whatever men comrades can accomplish, women comrades can too.” Unless, of course, you mean running the country. For not once since Mao’s communists took power in 1949 has a woman been appointed to China’s top political body, the politburo standing committee, let alone become the country’s top leader.

Drawn to what they hope is a guarantee of work, some women who cross the border are instead sold to Chinese or Korean-Chinese men in rural areas who cannot find wives due to poverty, undesirable living conditions, disability and the lopsided gender demographics created by the now-replaced one-child policy. Other women are abducted in public spaces, such as streets and trains, and forced into prostitution

Anson Tang Guoyong, founder of HRoot, an HR media company based in Guangzhou, confirmed that sexism is common among Chinese technology companies: “They filter out female candidates when going through resumes. The situation is worse now that China’s two-child policy is in effect.” That’s because companies fear a second child will mean more maternity leave and further time off to fulfil family responsibilities.

Analysts say righting that imbalance is important if the Communist Party wants to remain relevant, but with its focus on big projects such as the “Belt and Road” initiative, the gender gap is not high on the party’s agenda.