China ranks second in the list of countries with the most number of females in managerial positions holding the title of chief executive officers, a recent report showed.

From 2004 up to 2013, the US and Canada have topped the list of countries with a high percentage of women CEOs at 3.2 percent. China immediately followed with 2.3 percent. Japan only had 0.8 percent, the report released by Strategy&, the consultancy firm previously known as Booz&Co before PricewaterhouseCoopers took over.

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"Women CEOs are still rare, but they are becoming more prevalent, and we expect that trend to accelerate," the report stated

The report also showed that about 50 percent of the workforce in China is composed of women. Yet only 10 percent fill up the top managerial posts.

Though there is a high rate of internal promotion for Chinese companies at 84 percent, chances for women can be slim, partly because women are allowed to retire earlier than men, the report added.

With this obstacle, the report from Strategy& mentioned that a number of Chinese women have chosen to start running their own business. About 25 percent of Chinese entrepreneurs are women. Also, about half of the women billionaires around the world came from China.

The prevalence of women CEOs is also discussed in a debate moderated by BBC Worldwide. With the premise claiming that "The hand that rocks the cradle cannot rock the boardroom," British journalist, Allison Pearson, claimed that women cannot raise a family and take care of a family business at the same time.

SOHO China CEO and real estate agent, Zhang Xin, negated that claim and argued that women can lead a company as much as she can lead an entire household simultaneously.   The said Intelligence Square debate was reported in Hong Kong, and will be broadcasted on BBC World.