Steely Determination and OI China Loans

Born into a poor agricultural family in Shandong province, Li Yong supported his wife, children, and young grandchildren in a rural village where he only had a few mu of land. Every mao had to be stretched to its fullest. Hoping to provide his family with a better life, Li made the risky move to Hefei, Anhui province in early 2003. However, alone in Hefei, Li found that even a seemingly sweet fruit has a bitter rind. Because he was not an Anhui resident, Li was not eligible for new business financing from major banks. Li found some private lenders who would accept his non-local hukou (household residence permit), but interactions with them left Li uneasy. He did not want to be cheated out of his hard-earned money. With no access to start-up capital, Li struggled through his first year in Hefei and was unable to send any money home to his family.

In 2004, after a long search, Li saw a newspaper advertisement for microfinance lending from Opportunity International (OI) China. Li found that OI China was willing to finance some of the start-up costs for his steel panel business. With a loan of 20,000 RMB (about $2500), Li opened a shop in a local marketplace and hired five local employees who sold and distributed steel panels for interior home decoration. Business took off, and within a year, Li had succeeded enough to take out another OI China loan to open a second store. Through hard work and a series of OI China loans, by 2010 Li had turned his business into a well-known Hefei chain which included three large stores and a supply warehouse.

Li's success has had a dramatic effect on his family. Through his stores' profits, Guo was able to fund his children's university tuition. Now they run his company's branch stores. “We no longer rent an apartment; we have the ability to own one now,” Li claims proudly.

Furthermore, the loans that Li has taken out help the poor in the Hefei community. Li specifically hires workers that were previously homeless or unemployed because he knows what they have been through and wants to give them a chance to improve their lives. He employs sixteen workers directly at his stores and warehouse, and many more in steel panel factories across the province. Just as Li brightens the homes of his clients with his steel panels, he has brightened the lives of those around him with the success of his industry.