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Qifang Announces Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Empower Shaanxi Schoolgirls to Continue Education; Platform for Chinese Micro-philanthropy to Add International Reach

Qifang Announces Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Empower Shaanxi Schoolgirls to Continue Education; Platform for Chinese Micro-philanthropy to Add International Reach

Published 09-25-09

Submitted by Qifang

Qifang co-founder and CEO Calvin Chin will accept a certificate in recognition of the company's commitment during this year's Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting. Qifang and its commitment to expanding Chinese education to rural schoolgirls will be featured during a special session on Financial Inclusion.

The commitment will build upon Qifang's innovative model that empowers Chinese individuals and organizations to support and sponsor students' higher education dreams with loans and scholarships. In collaboration with US-based non-profit The 1990 Institute, Qifang is committing to an integrated solution of online loan funding, mentoring and community development that leverages technology to build bridges between young people in rural China with people in China and now outside of China who want to help.

"We're honored to have Qifang's commitment featured by the Clinton Global Initiative. There are hundreds of millions of rural Chinese who aren't a part of the economic miracle in China. With loan sizes as small as $400 USD and each lender's contributions as small as $7, nearly all of our sponsors have been domestic Chinese who are contributing to our own society's equitable development. Our collaboration with The 1990 Institute's Spring Bud Program will be our first collaboration with a US non-profit and represents a new channel of international sponsors who want to extend educational opportunities for young, rural Chinese as well."

The commitment is a multiyear project with three key components:

1. Financial support for college expenses: Qifang will use its social lending platform to raise an estimated $1000-1200 USD per student per year as grants and loans for qualified students who have previously had their secondary education sponsored and will be graduating from high school at the end of the 2009-2010 academic year.

2. Mentoring: Qifang will also develop one-to-one and one-to-many, life-long mentoring and support relationships between college sponsors and students and between student peers.

3. Community development: the loan process will require college majors in skills necessary in their communities such as education, medicine and law, and will feature programs for debt relief for students who return to work in their communities for two years after graduation.

Illustrated dramatically in 2008 by the Sichuan earthquake recovery efforts and volunteerism for the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese civil society has been energized by the participation by everyday Chinese. This energy has fueled Qifang's early growth. And now by creating international collaboration, this commitment, Qifang hopes to create a replicable and scalable model of cooperation between public, private and civic sectors that can one day ensure that no young Chinese girl or her family has to make education and life choices on the basis of financial resources.

About Qifang -- Qifang is a web service for Chinese students to find a way to pay for their education. Using a person-to-person lending and donation model, Chinese students use Qifang to connect to individuals, companies and organizations that can support their educational dreams. Qifang is also an online community for learning financial literacy and finding career development opportunities like internships, mentoring and jobs. In 2008, the World Economic Forum recognized Qifang as a Technology Pioneer; the first company from China to win such recognition, joining notable visionary companies like Google, Wikipedia and Mozilla. Qifang has been featured in Chinese and international media such as The Economist, BusinessWeek, Xinmin Weekly and The Oriental Morning Post. More information at http://www.qifang.cn

Qifang: social education finance http://www.qifang.cn

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