Ma Yaomei, a formerly poor woman in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has earned herself the title of "cattle-breeding queen" with the aid of UN loans, setting a good example for the other local women.

An official of the Women's Association of Guyuan County said over 65,000 women are managing all kinds of businesses including crop raising, livestock breeding, trading, and the service sector with foreign aid.

So far, some 20 international organizations have loaned more than two million US dollars and two million yuan (more than 220, 000 dollars) to poverty-stricken areas here, including the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) and the 4701 Project of the World Food Program (WFP).

Since 1995, a total of 12.8 million yuan (about 1.5 million dollars) has been allocated to eight of the poorest counties to pull people out of poverty. Ma Yaomei, for example, now makes a net income of 30,000 yuan a year by raising some 50 cattle, while in the past, her average annual income never exceeded 1,000 yuan ( about 114 dollars).