PlaNet Finance

Tian Si Wan may not be the middle of nowhere, but you can see it from there. Surrounded by an ever-encroaching desert, the small village in rural Ningxia has an economy based almost entirely on lamb herding – an occupation that aggravates the already critical problem of desertification. A great number of those living in Tian Si Wan today are recent arrivals, forced to move by the government after their own homes had been swallowed up.

But many of Tian Si Wan’s women have experienced a more positive ......r, the village sent its greatest warrior to climb the mountain to the giant’s cave and kill him. However, upon completing the task, the warrior would become enamored of the giant’s riches and take his place. “All of us in the microfinance industry have to ask ourselves, are we just going to slay the giant. Or are we going to become the giant, too?” With the new legal structures in place, China’s microfinance sector is certain to become gigantic. What form it will take remains to be seen.