What type of government entity oversees microfinance in China?
The regulatory environment continues to evolve and there are different legal forms for microfinance institutions. Since late 2005, the People’s Bank of China and the Chinese Banking Regulatory Commission have done some significant reforms that will eventually change the landscape for financial services in the rural countryside. In early 2006, the PBOC authorized six provinces (Shanxi, Shaanxi, Guizhou, Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Sichuan) to pilot licenses for for-profit, micro-credit companies to provide only credit in poor areas. Then, in December 2006, the CBRC announced regulations for a new banking license that would create banks with limited geographic scope to operate in rural areas, again to be piloted in six provinces (Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghai, Hubei, Jilin and Inner Mongolia). Our local partner MFIs are all non-profit, social organizations, established and run under local and national government support, and we operate as a strategic partner of these MFIs. Two of our MFIs are in
