Diageo, one of the world's leading premium drinks enterprises, recently announced the launch of the Diageo Plan W Fund along with its partner the China Women's Development Foundation (CWDF) at a ceremony in Beijing.

The fund will support women in China by providing them with a wide range of learning opportunities designed to improve their social and economic status.

Diageo China plans to donate 1 million yuan ($163,000) to the fund every year over the next five years, directly and indirectly benefiting an estimated 100,000 women across China.

Diageo will work with the CWDF to design and implement training and employment programs to support Chinese women in need. During the first year of the program, the fund will provide vocational training to 1,000 women in Jiangsu and Sichuan provinces.

In addition, printed and online training resources will reach a much broader audience. It is estimated that about 20,000 women each year will benefit from this initiative.

According to a survey carried out by the Chinese Women's Research Society in 2010, groups that include unemployed women, migrant women, landless female farm workers and single female parents now make up the majority of ‘the new poor'.

The fund will target such groups to address these shortcomings and have a positive impact across communities.

"Diageo has long been committed to supporting local communities in China," said Lin Menuhin, Corporate Relations Director of Diageo Greater China. "We hope that the fund will provide women across China with similar opportunities to grow."

The fund is part of Diageo Asia Pacific's $10 million regional initiative, Plan W, which aims to empower two million women through learning across 17 Asia Pacific countries by 2017.

"Diageo's Plan W initiative recognizes the socio-economic potential that women represent and we are confident that our five-year partnership will help many Chinese women acquire the skills they need to achieve more fulfilling and rewarding lives," said Qin Guo Ying, Secretary-General of the China Women's Development Foundation.