Society

Intl microfinance organization loans in rural China

By Zhang Jing (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-06-30 21:49

Before going to University of Cambridge for an Mphil degree in Finance in the UK this September, Shao Han, 22, wants to spend his summer with ACCION International to grant financial help to farmers in Bayan, Heilongjiang province in Northeastern China.

The program in Bayan is collaboration among International Finance Corporation (IFC) affiliated with the World Bank Group, Boston-based ACCION and Harbin Bank.

“By providing ‘micro’ loans, financial services and business training to poor men and women who start their own business, it helps people work their way up the economic ladder, with dignity and pride,” said ACCION's former CEO, Maria Otero, on this nonprofit organization’s mission.

Founded in 1961, ACCION is among the world’s premier microfinance organizations and it first came to China in December 2008. Rural banks in Chifeng of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and Bayan in Heilongjiang are among its partnerships that run across Latin America, Africa and Asia.

According to Wang Xue, an executive with ACCION branch in Bayan, their busiest season is right after the spring festival from February to May, when farmers would come to borrow money for seeds and fertilizer. The highest loan in one day could hit over 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million). Farmers do not need to mortgage on anything, but five families need to guarantee for each other to get the loans. Each could get from 10,000 to 20,000 yuan loans on average.

Shao is the youngest among the 14 volunteers chosen from some 300 applicants worldwide for the ACCION ambassadors program. Other candidates include a former Goldman Sachs employee and a 45-year-old American banker.

“The ACCION ambassadors program provides tools for people to work their own way out of poverty. This might not only be something I want to do for the summer, but something I want to do for life,” said Shao.