Wu Xiaoling: An innovative and inspiring experience - micro credit supported poverty reduction and women's development in China (Central Bank Articles and Speeches)

It is indeed a great pleasure to be invited to speak on this important Forum on Women’s Financial Education. In China, women are lauded as can hold “half of the sky” and thus are deemed an important force in fostering China’s economic growth. A proverb also says, “a good wife is a great protection against misfortune for the husband”. Put in other words in today’s environment of market economy, it means men would become more sensible in risk taking if their wives and daughters possess good command of financial knowledge, because they could benefit from the ‘half sky’s’ good investment advice. If so, financial risks will become more controllable and efficiency of resource allocation will be much improved, resulting in a strengthened rather than a weakened social stability.