CREDIT CO-OPERATIVES AND THEIR ROLE IN POVERTY REDUCTION IN RURAL CHINA

Abstract

Financial constraints may contribute to poverty traps. In the underdeveloped capital markets of rural China, many poor farmers in disadvantaged areas are financially constrained and denied access to formal financial services. A few attempts have been made to reform rural credit co-operatives but with limited impact. Recently, the development of rural mutual co-operatives, as one of new-type rural financial institutions, has gained increasing attention among scholars. While scholars predict that it would be difficult for true co-operative financial institutions to establish themselves and develop in China, this study discusses the conditions for the development of rural mutual co-operatives and identifies their institutional advantages in poverty outreach and financial sustainability. The analysis of the study is largely based on the primary data collected from field investigations and case studies. The study reveals that these organizations have played a significant role in promoting financial inclusion and become a sustainable driver for poverty reduction. This observation is in contrast to the widely-believed prediction that it is hardly probable for true credit co-operatives to establish themselves in modern China due to excessive government intervention and China’s peculiar political culture and social context. The findings also suggest two conditions be necessary to achieve their potential, namely, the co-operation between credit co-operatives and agricultural co-operatives, and local embeddedness with good social connectedness.