A forum highlighting the contributions of women in the fight against COVID-19 was held in Shanghai Tower on Monday.

Titled "Her Strength", the forum was part of the 2020 Shanghai Science and Technology Festival.

Co-sponsored by the Shanghai Women's Federation and the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality, the forum featured six women from scientific research institutes, governments, and enterprises to share stories about how they supported epidemic prevention and control efforts in the fields of information technology, biomedicine, epidemiology and digital economy.

Zheng Yaxu, deputy director of the acute infectious diseases department in Shanghai Municipal Center For Disease Control & Prevention, said that she carried out a series of investigations with experts after the first suspected case of COVID-19 was detected in Shanghai. The team successfully located the route of virus transmission, hence making a strong contribution to the fight against the epidemic.

"Men and women are absolutely equal, including in the field of the science," said Hao Pei, a researcher from the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai Chinese Academy of Sciences who helped publish a paper about COVID-19.

"In our institute, the proportion of female researchers is only 10 percent and I was the only female researcher in 2012 when I joined the institute. This epidemic has allowed people to see the efforts of front-line doctors and nurses who are women. I think it can be said that women are helping to hold up half the sky," she added.

"As women, they are brave, intelligent, and full of love. They use the power of scientific and technological innovation to fight the epidemic," said Xu Feng, chairman of Shanghai Women's Federation.

"They have helped gather a large amount of urgently needed epidemic prevention supplies for the medical team, community volunteers, and sanitation workers in Hubei province, and at the same time, personally fulfilled their social responsibilities," she added.