Helping the poor to help themselves

Fuping Development Institute is a nonprofit organization that helps low-income groups. Established to alleviate poverty and promote social equality, the institute runs four social enterprises with registered capital totaling 100 million yuan ($16 million).

Fuping's first project centered on microfinance. In 1993, the project started with a 500 yuan experiment in Linxian county, Shanxi province, later expanding to Shanxi's Yongji, Dayi county in Sichuan province and Beijing. Its microloan portfolio in Yongji eventually hit 100 million yuan, with an annual interest rate of 21 percent and a 99 percent repayment rate. Local farmers can obtain a maximum loan of 30,000 yuan without the need for collateral within two weeks of applying.

From its inception, Fuping has been devoted to helping women from poor families in China's central and western regions to find decent jobs and providing opportunities for personal development in the city. By the end of 2011, it had trained 21,400 housekeepers to work in Beijing. Nearly 90 percent of the women hail from remote mountain areas.