Another Report from Field Practioner: Microfinance Is a Viable and Effective Program for China

Found another article from the local government of Baotou City. It is filed by people from the government's Poverty Alleviation Office (“扶贫经济合作社”, or “扶贫社”，FPC）.

This article reviews a microfinance program started in 1994 in local area and documents some lessons learned. This is not a case study like in the last article I filed, yet it still contains some interesting points:
1. The authors concludes that the microfinance program can sustain itself
2. Microfinance is an effective tool to help alleviate poverty in rural China
3. The program was originally modeled after the Grameen Bank. A decade later, some practice proves more durable than others, such as targeting women borrowers, banking-in-the-fields, etc. But others, such as group lending (mutual guarantee), weekly center meeting, didn't work in China as well as it did in Bangladesh.
4. Microfinance program needs governmental buy-in at all levels
5. Because official policy limits capital sources for this program, it has loaned out every penny and is now run out of money--a victim of its own success.
6. The program needs a better information technology infrastructure to help improve efficiency and reduce risk.

The article is 发展小额信贷促进脱贫致富, can be found at here.