Recently, proactively driven by Home Credit Consumer Finance Company (“Home Credit China”), the cooperation in healthcare between China and the Czech Republic is set to reach a higher level. For years, Home Credit has been actively responding to the vow to bring a better life for Chinese people by promoting the China-Czech cooperation in various fields including healthcare, education as well as poverty alleviation and so on.

The Czech Republic is an important country along the Belt and Road route. In the past years, it has been actively taking part in cooperation projects within the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, highlighting its significance in the “16+1 Cooperation” between China and the Central and Eastern European countries.

Founded in the Czech Republic, Home Credit Group is one of the leading consumer finance providers worldwide that focuses on responsible lending primarily to people with little or no credit history and has established fully developed operations in 10 countries. Established in 2010 as one of the first four pilot consumer finance companies approved by China Banking Regulatory Commission, Home Credit China has been playing an important role in the development of inclusive consumer finance in China. While striving for the goal of helping Chinese people pursuing a better life with professional consumer finance products, Home Credit China is acutely aware of its responsibilities as a Czech company operating in China, which is to leverage its own resources and experiences to make people live better.

As a practitioner of inclusive finance, Home Credit China has been promoting the development of China’s consumer finance industry while improving the financial life of the less fortunate by boosting the financial literacy in China. Believing that appropriate adoption of financial tools can fundamentally change people’s lives, the company has set a model for foreign financial companies through its efforts taken in poverty alleviation. For years, Home Credit China has carried out series of financial literacy events in schools and communities across the country to offer people an opportunity to learn about modern finance to develop the capability of making rational financial decisions. In May 2017, Home Credit and China Foundation for Development of Financial Education jointly kicked off the “Jinhui” Rural Financial Education Project at Lvliang Mountains Contiguous Undeveloped Areas in China to help improve the basic financial know-how of the locals as well as the capability of the financial professionals at the grass-roots level. In September 2017, the company kicked off a new round of yearly financial literacy campaign themed “Financial Dandelion” in Beijing, and a total of twelve events would be organized in different regions in China, with an aim to spread the basic financial knowledge.

In the healthcare field, Home Credit has also made extraordinary contributions in bringing advanced experiences in air ambulance services from the Czech Public to Chinese cities. In June 2017, Home Credit China, Prague Emergency Medical Services and Ruijin Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (“Ruijin Hospital”) jointly kicked off their collaboration in air ambulance services, with the purpose of enhancing bilateral communications, gaining experience from international success cases, fueling the development of China’s air ambulance services and eventually accelerating the building of “Healthy China”. With financial support from Home Credit China, Prague Emergency Medical Services will carry out training of medics, paramedics and managerial (command) personnel of Ruijin Hospital, prepare clinical and technical guidelines and also conduct training of connectivity among Helicopter Emergency Medical Service, Emergency Service and Hospital ICU units. Currently, the training program and instructors are ready in Prague to welcome the first group of emergency medical service professionals to receive a systematic training. The valuable experiences learned from working with Ruijin Hospital will be beneficial for Prague Emergency Medical Services and Home Credit China to cooperate with more cities in future and benefit more Chinese people. Following this, a lot progress has been achieved in the bilateral cooperation in air ambulance services with tremendous support from Home Credit.

In the field of education, Home Credit China is also making continued contributions. The company has maintained a long-term relationship with universities in China and has been co-organizing the annual “Home Credit Cup” Consumer Finance Practice Competition with Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management to encourage university students to develop in-depth understanding of consumer finance.In the China Investment Forum 2017, Mr. Ondrej Frydrych, CEO of Home Credit China, participated in a roundtable discussion about China-Czech cooperation in education, highlighting the importance of education cooperation in promoting the well-rounded development of all people and ensuring win-win collaboration for both countries.

Mr. Ondrej Frydrych says: “Deeply rooted in China for ten years, as a responsible consumer finance company, we are committed to building financial inclusiveness and far beyond, by bridging the two countries in finance, healthcare, education, as well as other fields. Home Credit China expects to make people live better and this is our ultimate goal as a Czech company and a member of China’s consumer finance industry.”