The use of small loans has proven effective in helping Chinese women shake off poverty, whose number fell from 250 million in 1978 to 26.1 million in 2004, according to a source at a national meeting called to help advance the economic status of females.

Women's federations in 28 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have launched small-loan services to help more women start up money-making ventures and become prosperous, the source said.

East China's Anhui Province, for instance, has granted loans totaling 2.51 billion yuan (US$310 million) to 2.6 million women in the past decade.

The loans have helped recipients reap 1.16 billion yuan in economic benefits. Among them, the women's federation in Chifeng, a city in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, has made efforts to attract overseas funds to provide loans.

By August, Chifeng Women's Federation had amassed funds totaling 6.34 million yuan from banks, international organizations and foreign governments.

A total 42,300 women in Chifeng City have been granted small loans totaling 39.75 million yuan, and 99.97 percent have been paid back upon maturity.

(Xinhua News Agency November 19, 2005)