In recent years, the rapid growth of online lending services has significantly enhanced the convenience and accessibility of small-scale credit, playing a positive role in serving the real economy and supporting household consumption.
Concurrently, the industry has faced issues such as disorderly expansion, lack of transparency in interest and fees, relatively high overall financing costs, and a rapid increase in complaints.
To better leverage industry self-regulation in supporting administrative supervision, the official WeChat account of the National Internet Finance Association of China announced on June 17 that a preparatory group for the association's Online Lending Self-Discipline Working Committee has formulated a series of measures to uphold the principle of finance serving the people and guide the healthy development of the online lending industry.
Financial regulatory authorities have consistently emphasized both standardization and development, continuously improving the regulatory framework for online lending.
A series of regulations have been issued to fully reinforce the primary responsibility of financial institutions, standardize the conduct of partner institutions, and strengthen consumer protection.
Since 2025, regulatory efforts have focused on precise governance in key areas such as loan facilitation services and interest/fee management, achieving significant results.
Overall financing costs have notably decreased, behaviors like "over-borrowing" and "using loans to repay loans" have been effectively curbed, and the level of financial consumer rights protection has been substantially enhanced.
To further support and coordinate with the work of financial regulatory authorities and enhance the supportive role of industry self-regulation, the National Internet Finance Association, after thorough research and extensive investigation, and following deliberation and approval at its Second Council's Fifth Meeting, will establish an Online Lending Self-Discipline Working Committee to undertake self-regulatory management duties.
Considering the needs for forming the working committee and the current key industry conflicts, major concerns within the sector, as well as the complexity, importance, and urgency of related tasks, the initial focus at this stage will be on the field of online loan facilitation services.
A preparatory group for the working committee has been established to advance related work.
The first set of measures released consists of seven items.
These include providing support and more favorable loan conditions to groups such as new urban residents, flexible workers, employees of "two types of companies and two types of personnel," small and micro enterprises, individual businesses, farmers, and people lifted out of poverty, to the extent possible.
They also involve establishing a relief mechanism and increasing relief investment, with the total annual relief investment from all participating institutions not less than 15 billion yuan.
Additionally, the measures call for effective use of the abnormal information sharing system to prevent impacts from related illegal or gray-market activities.
In this regard, preparatory group member units, including Du Xiaoman, Ant Group Co., Ltd., TENCENT, JD Technology, and Douyin, will set an example and strictly implement these measures.
The association advocates that all industry practitioners proactively align with these standards, strengthen self-discipline with higher benchmarks, and jointly fulfill social responsibilities to demonstrate the industry's compassion and commitment.
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