China’s debt crackdown hits cash loan providers

China’s financial regulators have introduced new measures aimed at restricting the industry, which is estimated to be worth around $151.5 billion.

Executives from Chinese companies specialising in offering consumers small, easy-toget loans became something of a fixture on Wall Street this year.

Led by companies such as Qudian Inc and PPDAI Group Inc, the Chinese micro-lenders raised $ 1.2 billion with splashy US listings, cashing in on a boom in borrowing by consumers in China with little access to traditional banks.

However, the fortunes—and share prices—of the microlenders have slumped in the past week as Beijing clamped down on risks in the financial system, zeroing in on the fast-growing and loosely-regulated market for unsecured “cash loans”.

On Friday, China’s financial regulators introduced new measures aimed at restricting the industry, which is estimated to be worth 1 trillion yuan ($151.5 billion).

China has long been known as a nation of savers, but consumers are rapidly embracing debt from non-bank online platforms. The number borrowers taking out cash loans from the micro-lenders is growing at an unprecedented rate, according to the lending companies and the government.

For borrowers, the easy loans can be a risky proposition— especially if they fall behind on payments. The loans are usually in the range of 1,000 yuan; interest is typically about 36 percent annually, and penalty charges and compound interest can quickly add up, according to borrowers.

The number of repeat borrowers is rising, which could signal financial stress on borrowers, analysts say. The companies, however, say the repeat lending is just a sign of the attractiveness of their platforms.

The People’s Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission did not respond to faxed requests for comment.

Angel Xiao, 23, who lives in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen and does not own a credit card, said she borrowed 10,000 yuan last year from two online lenders, PPDAI and Flower Wallet, to attend a jewellery design class.

But after she lost her job as a tutor, she found herself unable to pay back the initial loans. With interest piling up, Xiao eventually took out a series of new loans, with an average maturity of 14 days, from more than 30 other lenders.

“I didn’t have money to repay loans coming due,” she said in an exchange on WeChat, a messaging service. “So I took out more loans. Every time when I didn’t have money, I used new loans to repay old loans. That’s how I got trapped deeper and deeper.” China Rapid Finance Ltd, an online micro-lender that raised $60 million in an April listing on the New York Stock Exchange, defended its cash loan business.