Print This Page Email This Page
WB Starts Rural Community Development Fund

The World Bank launched a rural community development fund on Monday aiming to provide farmers in 12 poverty- stricken villages with essential low-cost loans.

 

The fund, worth US$1.33 million, has been launched as a three-year pilot program for poor villages in Henan and Sichuan Provinces, said Zhang Chunlin, a project manager with the World Bank, adding that the British government contributed US$350,800 to the program.

 

Impoverished farmers have seen that the country's banking reforms, involving the closure of many local branches, make it difficult for them to obtain bank loans, said Liu Fangyu, an official with the Ministry of Finance.

 

Meanwhile, China's poverty alleviation funds are mainly used to build new infrastructure, leaving few funds to support farm production, said Liu.

 

The World Bank program will help villagers manage their own resources and their community affairs, said Liu Shuwen, an official with the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.

 

The application for the program, made by the Chinese government, was approved by the World Bank in November.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2006)


Related Stories
- World Bank Grants Loan for Agriculture Projects in E China Province
- World Bank Helps Inner Mongolia Facilitate Cross-border Trade Through Improved Transport Infrastructure
- WB Loans Used to Build Highways in Xinjiang
- 3.61 Million Rural Residents Benefit from WB Health Improvement Program
- WB Loan to Help Institutional Capacity Building for Further Reforms
- World Bank Grants Loans of US$668 Million to China
- WB Gives Loan of US$1.455 Bln to China in Past Year
- WB to Lend China US$4.5 Bln Over Three Years

Print This Page Email This Page
'Tomorrow Plan' Helps Disabled Orphans
First Chinese Volunteers Head for South America
East China City Suspends Controversial Chemical Project Amid Pollution Fears
Second-hand Smoke a 'Killer at Large'
Private Capital Flows to Developing Countries Hit New Record in 2006
Survey: Most of China's Disabled Not Financially Independent


Product Directory
China Search
Country Search
Hot Buys