Yixian Branch, Yixian County of Hebei Province

Yixian County, one of the poorest counties in Hebei Province, is located in the west of the province. FPC Yixian Branch, started in Oct.1993, is the earliest MFI in China. By the end of June 2007, Yixian Branch has developed 170 centers in 13 villages. Accumulatively, this branch has helped 18,406 households, 83% of whom are women. 41% of the whole county is influenced by the microfinance program of FPC.

From year 2000 to 2002, Yixian Branch started to make some bad loans. And in the year 2003, the whole economy was negatively affected by the SARS. FPC Yixian started to concentrate on improving operational efficiency and risk management skill on the year 2004 – 2005. As a result, the repayment rate increased to 99%.