The Coexistence and Interaction of Formal and Informal Lending in China— Discussion of the Wenzhou Case

Interest in China’s economy has typically been focused on its phenomenal growth. However, more recently there has been growing interest in emerging constraints on and vulnerabilities regarding that growth. A key focus has been concern with issues of shadow banking. This article discusses one aspect of China’s finance system, which has some crossover with shadow banking: informal lending to private enterprises (PE). This lending is characteristically unstable and exhibits a number of features that constrain private enterprises. Intrinsic to those constraints are issues of usury, bribery and rent-seeking (as an expression of power), all of which bear on the institutional context of ethics. This article discusses the case of Wenzhou, the most prominent city for private enterprises in China. The Wenzhou case is explored using a narrative form drawing on multiple sources including academic papers, regulation, newspapers, and social media. This is an increasingly recognized approach within mixed methods research and this article supplies important qualitative insight into the how and why questions regarding the Wenzhou case. The Wenzhou case is typical in terms of the coexistence and interaction of formal and informal lending in China. Finally, we highlight the limits of the recent reform process and current approach to resolving the problem of financing for PEs in China.