This article examines the institutional linkages between three women workers' co‐operatives, the first women's credit co‐operative in China, and the co‐operative support organization, the International Committee for the Promotion of Chinese Industrial Co‐operatives (ICCIC). The study shows that Chinese women in rural areas have increasingly adopted co‐operatives as a form of organization in their efforts to address the problem of their lack of access to resources, including land, credit, jobs, training and information, and to participate in the mainstream economy as an organized force. This article demonstrates that stronger institutional linkages between local offices of the All‐China Women's Federation and the ICCIC encourage the growth of women's co‐operative activities. It raises two sets of policy issues that are central to the development of co‐operatives and women's banking: the continued growth of these activities will depend upon the government adopting legislation to define the legal framework governing co‐operative relations and management systems, and establishing gender‐inclusive policies to increase credit to women's income‐generating activities.