China's President Xi Jinping said Sunday that the fight for gender equality is a "great cause" worth pursing because history has shown that the development and progress of the world would not be possible without the liberation of women.

Xi, who made the statement while addressing a Global Leader's Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment at the United Nations (UN) headquarters, said he will do more to further the cause of gender equality as a basic state policy.

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He laid out a proposal consisting of four points, which will help advance the cause of women's rights and gender equality globally.

Xi said China has made progress in improving the lives of women. He added that now Chinese women have the opportunity to succeed in life and achieve their dreams.

"As the Chinese people pursue a happy life, every Chinese woman has the opportunities to excel in life and make their dream come true," he said.

Xi also announced a $10 million Chinese funding to further assist the U.N. agency in charge of advancing gender equality worldwide.

He added that in the next five years, China would assist several developing countries to develop "health projects for women and children."

Xi said as part of China's plan to support gender equality, the country will send medical teams to provide health care and construct 100 campus projects that will send poor girls to school. China will also train 30,000 women from developing countries, while making training opportunities open for another 100,000 women.

Xi's speech and announcement was welcomed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. However, American officials have questioned China's records on women rights.

President Obama said in a statement that "In too many places - from China to Egypt, from Russia to Venezuela - women have been swept up in repressive crackdown on civil society, and deprived of their universal rights and fundamental freedoms."

"If you want to empower women, don't imprison them on the basis of their views or beliefs," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said in a statement.

Power was referring to the recent arrest of five Chinese women. The women, who have since been released, were detained for planning to demonstrate against sexual harassment on public transport during the International Women's Day, March 8th.

Former U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, who is also a Democratic presidential candidate, used social media to criticize China's record on women's rights.

"Xi hosting a meeting on women's rights at the UN while persecuting feminists? Shameless," Clinton tweeted.

Meanwhile, Chinese officials have said Beijing's record on human rights is admirable and that the government dealt with the recent arrest of the five women activists according to law.

"I believe the people in the best position to judge the state of women's issues in China are Chinese people, particularly Chinese women," said Li Junhua, a senior official at the Foreign Ministry.

Li explained that most criticisms levelled against China's record on women's rights were "groundless." He said the accusers were either uninformed or misinformed about the current state of these issues in China.

TagsChina Women's Rights, China Gender Equality, Global Leader's Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment, United Nations (UN), China $10 Million Gender Equity Funding