"Microfinance is the part of the financial sector that attempts to respond to the demand for financial services of households and enterprises that have no access to the formal financial sector. This bilingual handbook (english/chinese) had originally been developed on behalf of the German KfW and the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China. It gathers information about the ""state of the art"" of the microfinance industry and covers the guiding microfinance principles, main products and financial technologies. In addition, it introduces different institutional models and provides insights into key institutional success factors."