China experienced a surge in problematic peer-to-peer (P2P) online lending platforms in 2015 and 2016, with the number reaching about 1,300 last year, financial news portal finance.ifeng.com reported Monday, citing an industry report.
In the past three years, a growing number of investors have been involved with problematic P2P lending platforms, according to the report. There were 478,000 such cases as of the end of January, accounting for 4.5 percent of P2P investors in China.
At least 64 platforms reported problems or suspended operations last month, including three whose managers disappeared, the report said. The number of P2P platforms that left the business peaked in mid-2016. But the report did not release the exact number.
The number of P2P lending platforms in sound operation stood at 2,388 as of the end of January, down by 60 from late December, the ifeng.com report said.
China's P2P lending platforms handled 221 billion yuan ($32.6 billion) in transactions in January, down 9.55 percent month-on-month.
