Teachers’ invests in CD Finance, a leading company helping rural residents in China

BEIJING, CHINA – CD Finance, a leading rural service institution that supports entrepreneurship and poverty alleviation in China’s rural population, has today announced the completion of a new funding round of RMB 1 billion.

The round was led by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers’), through its Teachers’ Innovation Platform (TIP). TIP focuses on late-stage venture and growth equity investments in companies that use technology to disrupt incumbents and create new sectors. Existing investor ABC World Asia also participated in the round. ABC World Asia is a Singapore-headquartered and Asia-focused private equity fund dedicated to impact investing.

CD Finance uses leading technology to provide access to convenient, safe, and reliable microfinance and rural services for customers in rural areas: enabling them to start sustainable businesses, increase incomes, and create better futures. In tandem with China’s economic development in rural areas, the company has helped to alleviate poverty and build a sustainable future for agricultural communities since it was first established in 2008.

Currently, CD Finance has more than 6,000 staff in 410 county branches across 20 Chinese provinces. A total of more than 7 million rural population benefited from CD Finance’s service.

Liu Dongwen, Chairman and CEO of CD Finance said: “The proceeds from this financing round will be used to expand the breadth and depth of our services to rural residents. We intend to further improve our technology, including increasing cloud services, to support functions such as networked communications, e-commerce services, start-up capital support, technical training, and entrepreneurship coaching. CD Finance will continue to scale up and provide digitized services to our customers to support rural production activities and increase local consumer services – furthering our sustained contribution to rural revitalization.”

Olivia Steedman, Senior Managing Director, TIP, said: “CD Finance’s innovative business model and leading technology platform position the company well to further accelerate rural China’s development. We’re delighted to join them in their mission to create better futures for China’s rural population.”

David Heng, Founder and CEO, ABC World Asia, said: “With more people gaining access to phones and the Internet, digital technology can be deployed to deliver affordable, effective, and safe financial services to under-served communities. The investment in CD Finance can generate positive impact on the economy and society by facilitating further digital and financial inclusion. We are pleased to support the company’s growth plans that are designed to drive value in the economy and uplift communities, and at the same time contribute to China’s sustainable development goals.”

About CD Finance
CD Finance is a comprehensive rural service institution focusing on serving small and micro businesses in rural areas, which consists of CD Finance Management Co., Ltd. and its subsidiaries for microfinance and rural services. We aim to offer convenient, fast, economical, safe and reliable services for customer group in rural areas, enabling them to start business, increase income and pursue better lives through microcredit, microinsurance, agricultural input e-commerce, direct procurement of agricultural outputs, and technical training.

About Ontario Teachers’
The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers') is the administrator of Canada's largest single-profession pension plan, with C$221.2 billion in net assets (all figures at December 31, 2020). It holds a diverse global portfolio of assets, approximately 80% of which is managed in-house, and has earned an annual total-fund net return of 9.6% since the plan's founding in 1990. Ontario Teachers' is an independent organization headquartered in Toronto. Its Asia-Pacific region offices are located in Hong Kong and Singapore, and its Europe, Middle East & Africa region office is in London. The defined-benefit plan, which is fully funded, invests and administers the pensions of the province of Ontario's 331,000 active and retired teachers. For more information, visit otpp.com and follow us on Twitter @OtppInfo

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About ABC World Asia
ABC World Asia is a Singapore-headquartered and Asia-focused private equity fund dedicated to impact investing. It invests in companies that drive positive change by addressing the world’s most pressing challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity, and deepening inequality. Its investment themes include financial and digital inclusion, better health and education, climate and water solutions, sustainable food and agriculture, and smart and liveable cities.

Its inaugural S$405 million fund includes investors such as Temasek Trust, Temasek, Pavilion Capital, Mapletree Investments, SeaTown Holdings, Sembcorp Industries, and Singapore Power.

For more information, please visit www.abcworld.com.sg

For media queries on ABC World Asia: media@abcworld.com.sg