MADISON, Wis. — The World Council of Credit Unions has been asked by the Chinese government to lead an effort in one of the country's poorest provinces to improve and develop rural credit cooperatives, the Chinese term for credit unions.

The Chinese government established a legal framework to allow for the existence of credit unions at the end of 2006, WOCCU said. On World Council's second visit to China, WOCCU CEO Pete Crear, along with Brian Branch, chief operating officer and Ralph Swoboda, WOCCU's consultant on China, spent a week with government officials, RCC representatives and regulators from the People's Bank of China and the China Regulatory Banking Commission to begin planning RCC reform in the southwest Guizhou Province–one of the poorest and least developed in China, WOCCU said.

The Chinese government has identified RCCs as prime vehicles for providing affordable financial access to small-scale entrepreneurs and consumers, but RCCs have long struggled with an unclear ownership structure, poor governance and erratic financial performance. The group discussed WOCCU's potential to provide technical assistance and training to strengthen and reform the operations of the RCCs, WOCCU added.