Shanghai-based peer-to-peer lending site Dianrong.com will attempt to raise as much as US$500 million in its next round of funding, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing founder Soul Htite. The online lender, founded in 2012 by Htite and partner Kevin Guo, is a Chinese version of the world’s biggest P2P platform, LendingClub, also founded by Htite. The platform has 26 mainland offices, 300,000 active lenders and originates around RMB1 billion in new loans every month according to Htite. Monthly online lending volume in China reached RMB120 billion in October, quadruple the level seen a year ago, according to a report published by online lender Wangdaizhijia and consultancy Yingcan.