A CASE STUDY OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GRAMEENCREDIT INSTITUTIONS IN CHINA’S COUNTRYSIDE

Abstract: The success of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh reinforces microcredit’s role in alleviating poverty and empowering the poor. In the wake of this success the Grameencredit has been widely duplicated in different countries around the world. China joined the trend to implement Grameencredit as early as 1993 but did not see the expected triumph. This thesis therefore explores the obstacles hindering the viability of Grameencredit Institutions in the Chinese context by looking into two Grameencredit Institutions serving the rural poor households in Northern China. A systematic perspective was adopted to examine these obstacles by first making assessment on Grameencredit Institutions’ performance, followed by organizational analyses while simultaneously taking account of the effect of external environment. On the basis of the evidence from quantitative and qualitative data, three internal obstacles and two external obstacles are identified. They are interrelated and can not be removed without enabling a microcredit-friendly environment.