• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Erin Brockovich, the activist who defeated a utility giant and inspired a Julia Roberts film, is pushing data centers to be more transparent

2

The Iran conflict has disrupted oil supply. Gulf states are now looking to multi-billion-dollar investments in renewables 

3

Current price of oil as of June 1, 2026

1

Erin Brockovich, the activist who defeated a utility giant and inspired a Julia Roberts film, is pushing data centers to be more transparent

2

The Iran conflict has disrupted oil supply. Gulf states are now looking to multi-billion-dollar investments in renewables 

3

Current price of oil as of June 1, 2026
MPWMost Powerful Women

These 19 countries are represented by Fortune’s Global Most Powerful Women

By
Claire Groden
Claire Groden
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Claire Groden
Claire Groden
Down Arrow Button Icon
September 14, 2015, 8:00 AM ET

The international Most Powerful Women list includes female executives from many countries, including Saudi Arabia, which isn’t known for women’s rights. But there are a few countries that truly dominate the list: China and the United Kingdom, for example, account for half of the women present on the two regional lists.

Chinese executives trounced powerful women from other countries, accounting for 13 of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Asia-Pacific. That’s in line with plenty of other statistics from the rising power: it also boasts the most self-made female billionaires in the world. And while the boardrooms in China’s top companies lag in gender equity behind those in the European Union, United States, France, Norway and others, female senior executives seem to fare better. Though 126 of the top 300 companies in China lacked female board members (42%), only 31 of those companies lacked a female senior executive (10.3%) in February. One study by professors at the prestigious Chinese University in Hong Kong found a higher percentage of female CEOs in China (4.5%) than in the United States (4%).

China’s large portion of powerful women can be attributed in part to its rapid economic development, especially since the One Child Policy led Chinese parents to educate their sole children with a gender-neutral zeal. A handful of the women on Fortune’s MPW list personify China’s ascent: Zhou Qunfei, the CEO of Lens Technology, grew up motherless in a tiny farming village, helping her family by raising pigs and ducks. She started her career as a teenager making watch parts in a Guangdong factory before opening the shop that would make her the world’s richest self-made woman. Dong Mingzhu of Gree Electric and Wang Fengying of Great Wall Motor boast similar stories, working their way up their respective companies from starting positions as saleswomen over the course of decades.

Of course, it helps China’s case on the list that it is simply the largest country in the world, with more women to start companies and more companies for women to lead.

The United Kingdom, which is home to far fewer women than China, boasts 10 of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Unlike other European countries such as France and Germany, which legislate boardroom gender quotas, the United Kingdom has elevated women in business without much government assistance. Part of that country’s success can be attributed to Helena Morrissey, the CEO of Newton Investment Management and founder of the 30% Club, which has successfully pressured top male chairmen to diversify their boards. In fact, a number of the chairmen of companies with Fortune MPW executives—including Goldman Sachs International, GlaxoSmithKline, and EasyJet—are members of the 30% Club’s UK chapter.

France and India followed the United Kingdom in global MPW list representation, with four women on the list each. South Korea and Singapore both had three women on the list. Rounding off the list with one MPW each were: Taiwan, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey.

Here are the countries with three or more women on Fortune’s Global Most Powerful Women lists.

China

Dong Mingzhu, Chairperson and President of Gree Electric Appliances. Ranked #4.

Li Dang, President and Director of China General Technology. Ranked #6.

Wang Fengying, CEO and Executive Director of Great Wall Motor. Ranked #7.

Rose Lee Wai Mun, CEO and Vice Chairman of Hang Seng Bank. Ranked #8.

Lucy Peng, CEO, Ant Financial and Chief People Officer at Alibaba. Ranked #11.

Wu Yajun, Chairman of Longfor Properties. Ranked #13.

Maggie Wu, CFO of Alibaba. Ranked #15.

Wei Sun Christianson, Co-CEO, Asia-Pacific, CEO, China at Morgan Stanley. Ranked #17.

Zhou Qunfei, CEO and Co-founder of Lens Technology. Ranked #18.

Rachel Duan, SVP, General Electric, President and CEO of GE Greater China. Ranked #19.

Sun Yafang, Chairwoman of Huawei Technologies. Ranked #21.

Marjorie Yang, Chairman of Esquel. Ranked #24.

Zhang Xin, CEO of Soho China. Ranked #25.

United Kingdom

Alison Cooper, CEO of Imperial Tobacco. Ranked #2.

Ornella Barra, EVP, President and CEO of Global Wholesale and International Retail, Walgreens Boots Alliance. Ranked #5.

Carolyn McCall, CEO of EasyJet. Ranked #7.

Veronique Laury, CEO of Kingfisher. Ranked #8.

Moya Greene, CEO of Royal Mail. Ranked #9.

Serpil Timuray, Regional CEO, AMAP, Vodaphone. Ranked #15.

Elizabeth Corley, Global CEO of Allianz Global Investors. Ranked #17.

Isabelle Ealet, Global Co-Head of Securities, Goldman Sachs. Ranked #18.

Emma Walmsley, CEO, GSK Consumer Healthcare, GSK. Ranked #24.

Ann Cairns, President of International Markets at MasterCard. Ranked #25.

France

Patricia Barbizet, CEO of Groupe Artemis and CEO and Chairman of Christie's International. Ranked #6.

Dominique Senequier, President of Ardian. Ranked #10.

Isabelle Kocher, Deputy CEO and COO of Engie SA. Ranked #19.

Pascale Witz, Executive Vice President of Global Divisions and Strategic Development at Sanofi. Ranked #20.

India

Chanda Kochhar, CEO and Managing Director of ICICI Bank. Ranked #1.

Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson of the State Bank of India. Ranked #2.

Nishi Vasudeva, Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Petroleum. Ranked #5.

Shikha Sharma, CEO and Managing Director of Axis Bank. Ranked #9.

South Korea

Kwon Seon-Joo, CEO and Chairman, Industrial Bank of Korea. Ranked #12.

Hyun Jeong-Eun, Chairwoman, Hyundai Group. Ranked #16.

Lee Boo-Jin, President and CEO of Hotel Shilla and Adviser, Samsung C&T Trading and Investment Group. Ranked #20.

Singapore

Chua Sock Koong, Group CEO of Singapore Technologies. Ranked #3.

Ho Ching, CEO and Executive Director of Temasek. Ranked #10.

Sheila Patel, CEO of International Goldman Sachs Asset Management at Goldman Sachs. Ranked #23.

 

For the EMEA list, visit fortune.com/most-powerful-women-europe-middle-east-africa/

For the Asia-Pacific list, visit fortune.com/most-powerful-women-asia-pacific/

To see the Fortune 50 Most Powerful Women list, visit fortune.com/most-powerful-women.

 

Subscribe to The Broadsheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the world’s most powerful women.

About the Author
By Claire Groden
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in MPW

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in MPW

dario
AIAnthropic
Anthropic confidentially files its S-1 first—but the IPO race with OpenAI is just beginning
By Allie GarfinkleJune 1, 2026
11 hours ago
ap
Arts & Entertainmentbooks
Ann Patchett opened a bookstore everyone said would fail. Now it’s a blueprint
By Hillel Italie and The Associated PressJune 1, 2026
17 hours ago
ms
Arts & Entertainmentbaby boomers
Why the economy forces boomers to work longer, then vilifies them for it
By Lee Ann Rawlins Williams and The ConversationMay 31, 2026
2 days ago
z
North AmericaNew York City
Zohran Mamdani to skip Israel Day Parade, breaking with decades of tradition for NYC mayors
By Anthony Izaguirre and The Associated PressMay 31, 2026
2 days ago
soccer moms
CommentarySports
Why soccer moms are shaping the future of football in the U.S.
By Ruslan BashirovMay 31, 2026
2 days ago
As part of her Citi turnaround, Jane Fraser cut management layers from 13 to 8. But the ‘great flattening’ doesn’t always work as intended
C-SuiteManagement
As part of her Citi turnaround, Jane Fraser cut management layers from 13 to 8. But the ‘great flattening’ doesn’t always work as intended
By Claire ZillmanMay 30, 2026
3 days ago

Most Popular

Erin Brockovich, the activist who defeated a utility giant and inspired a Julia Roberts film, is pushing data centers to be more transparent
Environment
Erin Brockovich, the activist who defeated a utility giant and inspired a Julia Roberts film, is pushing data centers to be more transparent
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJune 1, 2026
13 hours ago
The Iran conflict has disrupted oil supply. Gulf states are now looking to multi-billion-dollar investments in renewables 
Energy
The Iran conflict has disrupted oil supply. Gulf states are now looking to multi-billion-dollar investments in renewables 
By Melissa HancockJune 1, 2026
16 hours ago
Current price of oil as of June 1, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 1, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 1, 2026
18 hours ago
Current price of silver as of Monday, June 1, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Monday, June 1, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 1, 2026
18 hours ago
After issuing more than $20 billion in tariff refunds, the Trump administration is now pursuing legal action to bring the process to a standstill
Law
After issuing more than $20 billion in tariff refunds, the Trump administration is now pursuing legal action to bring the process to a standstill
By Sasha RogelbergJune 1, 2026
14 hours ago
I wrote that Boomers were choking America’s economy. Their responses to me were revealing
Personal Finance
I wrote that Boomers were choking America’s economy. Their responses to me were revealing
By Nick LichtenbergMay 31, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.