Women empowerment: Millions of women in China became entrepreneurs, thanks to loans granted by the government through local banks. (Above) A fruit stall owner checks on her merchandise. (Photo : Getty Images)
For the second quarter of the year, the government provided loans amounting to some 279.4 billion yuan to 5.38 million women who expressed desire to go into business, reported China Daily.
According to the State Council Information Office, many of the loan applicants came from the poor sector.
One of those whose loan got approved said that she dreamt of running her own business.
Thirty-one-year-old Chang Ling from Wulian County, Shandong Province, borrowed 50,000 yuan from a local bank to start a home-based business. She now makes dried sweet potatoes and sells them online.
With these government loans worth billions paving the way for the existence of millions of first-time female entrepreneurs, it seems that the administration indeed walks the talk.
In a letter written for the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the U.N. Declaration on the Right to Development held last Sunday, President Xi Jinping said, “China sees development as the key to solve all of the country’s problems.”
Development, according to the president, is the government’s “top priority.”
The move for the government to grant billions of loans likewise supports some of the proposals included in China’s 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), such as to fast-track financial reforms, to improve livelihoods and to strengthen fiscal reforms.
The 12th National People Congress approved the FYP, the country’s economic and social development outline on March.
In his speech delivered at the aforementioned U.N. Declaration anniversary, Liu Qibao, CPC Central Committee’s Propaganda Department Head, said that the development being pursued by China has helped both its own people and those in other countries.
Liu said that the government worked on alleviating the lives of 700 million poverty-stricken Chinese. He added that China extended assistance worth more than 400 billion yuan to 166 countries and organizations worldwide.
According to the document titled, “The Right to Development: China’s Philosophy, Practice and Contribution,” issued by the State Council Information Office on Dec. 1, the “Chinese government formulates special action plans in the fields of economy, culture, society and environment to ensure people’s right to development,” reported Xinhua.
The government “has implemented a wide array of action plans in areas such as poverty alleviation, the Internet, innovation and entrepreneurship, science and technology, trade and regional development.”
These statements echo what is stated in Article I of the Declaration on the Right to Development:
“The right to development is an inalienable human right by virtue of which every human person and all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized.”
The U.N. adopted the declaration on Dec. 4, 1986.
