Track Record

The Pucheng County Women's Sustainable Development Association (PCWSDA) has an excellent 4-years operational track record, with good decision-making and operations procedures, processes, and systems. 100% of loans have been repaid!  Its management and staff have a passion for hard work, efficiency, and accountability. PCWSDA's management want to reach more borrowers and are willing to change and be innovative.

About Pucheng County

Pucheng County is located in Shaanxi Province, in north central China, 120 km from Xian.  It is primarily an agricultural region with an arid climate and has population of 760,000 in 24 townships and 365 villages.

The estimated target market for PCWSDA loan services is 40,000 borrowers, based on their level of poverty, their capability to run a micro business, and their lack of access to financial services. PCWSDA is currently covering only 4 percent of the market, but if we achieve our short term goal of reaching 5,000 borrowers we would be covering 12.5 percent of the market.  At this point, the PCWSDA could gain broader access to funding so that it can grow more rapidly and service a much higher percentage of the market.

The Chinese government has designated Pucheng County as one of the poorest counties in China, with average per capita income of less than $147/year, or $0.40/day (RMB 1000/year). Women make up 75 percent of the labor force since many men have left to find work in the cities, leaving the women to care for the elderly and children.

There is no other organization that lends to this poor population. Rural credit cooperatives, postal savings banks, and other financial institutions require collateral and lend primarily to small and medium-sized businesses rather than poor individuals.