NANCHANG, Sept. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- An international non-profit organization which provides small loans for poor entrepreneurs worldwide has begun to offer services to its Chinese customers in east China's Jiangxi province, according to sources with the provincial labor and social security department.

    Opportunity International (OI) will provide local small entrepreneurs with short term loans of three to twelve months withan upper limit of 20,000 yuan (about 2,400 US dollars), which willgreatly expand the social security department's capability of releasing small loans to small entrepreneurs, according to the contract.

    Opportunity International now runs 40 organizations in over 20 developing countries. In 2003, OI initiated its first Chinese branch in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui province. Enditem