Promote inclusive finance to alleviate poverty

Last year, President Xi Jinping set a target for lifting 70 million more people out of poverty in the next five years. And it is clear that strong efforts to galvanize the Chinese agencies into action are already underway.

Just on Jan 15, the State Council, China's Cabinet, published a five-year development plan for inclusive finance which outlines a series of measures and targets to make banking and lending services more accessible to ordinary people, especially those that are under-privileged or live in remote areas. The plan notes the importance of ensuring farmers, small and micro enterprises, low-income urban populations, people with disabilities and the elderly in particular are able to get timely, reasonably priced, convenient and secure financial services.

Around the world, initiatives to promote universal access to quality financial services have been gaining traction, as recognition has grown that the more people are included in the financial system the more people are lifted, over time, out of poverty. The fact is, when people can more easily save for their future, when they are more easily able to protect themselves and their property from unforeseen circumstances, such as illness or natural disasters and when they can get access to affordable credit, their lives - and livelihoods - improve.