Peng, a UNESCO special envoy for the advancement of women's and girls' education, has also made strong appeals to advance their education globally.

In an interview last month with the Courier, the main magazine published by UNESCO, Peng said: "While COVID-19 continues to spread across the world, it is our shared wish that no girl is left behind because of the pandemic. The first thing we need, therefore, is collaboration."

Peng has paid special attention to the UNESCO Prize for Girls' and Women's Education, which has been funded by China since 2016. She has attended its award ceremonies and sent congratulatory messages when she could not be present.

At this year's ceremony, which she attended via video link, Peng called on the international community to offer stronger support to the advancement of girls' and women's education to help achieve the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This agenda seeks to achieve transformative change with respect to people, the planet, prosperity, peace and partnership.

Peng suggested making good use of digital technologies to promote the sharing of quality online education resources in an effort to step up support for women and girls in poverty-stricken areas and those from underprivileged households.

Li Yingtao, a professor of global governance and gender equality at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said the prominent role played by Peng as a UNESCO special envoy shows that China has started to play a leading part in promoting gender equality in education.

According to UNESCO, although notable progress has been made over the past 20 years, 129 million girls remain out of school, and two-thirds of primary school-age children who may never attend school are girls.

The UNESCO prize, which honors outstanding and innovative contributions made by individuals, institutions and organizations to advance girls' and women's education, is a strong indicator of China's readiness to make sustained contributions to global education equality, Li Yingtao said.

"It also shows that China strongly supports efforts being made by the UN to achieve gender equality."

She added that China has made remarkable progress in eliminating poverty among women, improving school enrollment among girls, and promoting education equality over the past four decades, with the nation already eliminating the gender gap in its nine-year compulsory education.

The number of Chinese women taking higher education is also nearing a historic high, she said.

"All these achievements show that China's practice in education has become one of the best in promoting gender equality," she said.