China's P2P lenders dodge regulations

Following years of explosive yet unchecked growth of P2P lending in China, the central government in August announced sweeping regulations to rope in the nascent sector.  But Caixin reporters found that while some P2P lenders have been trying to follow the new requirements, others have managed to skirt the new rules. “The problem is that there are so many variants of P2P. The problems of the market can hardly be fixed by issuing some regulatory policies since there are always loopholes for scammers to exploit,” said a government official who was part of the national P2P industry inspection team. Some P2P lenders have recently switched to offering small or short-term loans that help cover down payments, tuition fees and personal consumption. These small cash loans are usually made without collateral and at high interest rates, igniting concerns over risks of defaults and predatory lending. In 2016, a total 2 trillion yuan in loans were made through P2P lending firms.