IFAD projects provided loans to between 20 and 66 percent of rural households in the project areas. The main project activities promoted through micro credit were grain

production, horticulture, livestock rearing, and women’s income generation. The average loan size was 2,000 yuan (approximately USD 240) and it is estimated that projects reached 42% of households. Almost 90% of

those who took out a loan received training related to the activity for which the credit was advanced. Survey findings suggest that poverty fell between 8 and 20% between 1995 and 1999 but analysis shows that IFAD

had difficulties in reaching the poorest Chinese. Most households receiving project loans were in the better–off strata of society: the Rural Credit Cooperative and Project Management Office loan officials prefer to lend to better-off households, being more concerned with clients’ ability to repay than with finding ways to achieve poverty alleviation.