When Peng Yan's son was six months old, she brought him with her on a work trip to sea, in her warmest coat and accompanied by her mother-in-law.

"My family showed understanding and support," the 36-year-old head of Shanghai University's Unmanned Vessel Research Institute said to journalists on Wednesday evening during a group interview with five delegates to the 12th National Women's Congress in response to a question about work-life balance.

Peng said her son is six years old now, but work is getting busier.

"I often tell my son 'I love you dearly and I also love my career. My career is more than a job, it's my dream'," she said, adding she hopes to be a role model for him when he's older.

Female employees in China made up 43.1 percent of the country's workforce and one quarter of the country's entrepreneurs in 2016, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

On average, women devote 15 percent more time than men to their families and nine percent less time than men to their careers, according to a survey that polled more than 100,000 employed people published by leading job recruitment website Zhaopin.com in March.

For many women with a career, work-life balance is unattainable.

"My son is 20 years old now and I have never reached a work-life balance," Tan Lixia, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Haier Group, put it frankly.

"Instead of work-life balance, I believe harmony is a better word. I do what I can for my family and let others do what they want," Tan said. "The atmosphere in my family is very harmonious."

"For me, work and life are equally important," said Liu Li, presiding judge of the Olympic Village People's Court under the Chaoyang District People's Court in Beijing. "In terms of companionship with my son, I think the length of time [spent with him] does not matter. What matters is the quality of the companionship."

Liu said her 11-year-old son always did his homework on his own. "I think hard-working parents serve as role models for their children."

Nowadays, more and more young Chinese women are pursuing a successful career.

A report by LinkedIn China and L'Oreal China released in March shows that nearly 80 percent of surveyed women born after 1995 want to be financially independent or do what they want to do, while only 23 percent of them thought being a dutiful wife and a devoted mother defined being a "good woman".

"I find all delegates to the National Women's Congress to be independent and have their own careers," Liu said.

"I hope families of career women can give them full understanding and support," she added.