This article examines Chinese gender policies since 2016 when president Xi Jinping held his famous speech on family values. The particular focus of this study is on the role of the All-China Women’s Federation (ACWF), the most important women’s organization in China, in representing women’s interests. The article addresses the organization’s role as balancing between the state, the Chinese Communist Party, and the women it seeks to support and represent. Using feminist intersectional methods, an analysis on the policy changes and their effect on Chinese women and the ACWF in particular is presented. The research methods facilitate the understanding of Chinese society as including a variety of perspectives and voices, the study of which calls for attentive observation and collection of diverse evidence. The article uses different sources, including political documents, publications, observations, and unique data from interviews with ACWF representatives (Chinese women) conducted in semi-urban areas analysed in the context of Chinese gender politics. The findings show that the long-standing constitutional commitment to sexual equality and the Chinese version of state feminism have not eliminated the patriarchal structures at the grassroot level. The recent recourse to Confucianism tends to legitimate such structures and endanger the ACWF’s mission of supporting the local women.