Most Online Lending Platforms Do Business Without License

(Beijing) — The vast majority of China's fast-growing online lending platforms still operate without a license despite a recent crackdown by regulators trying to tame a sector in which fraud is rampant.

There were 2,235 peer-to-peer (P2P) financing sites in China by the end of August, but only 242 of them had obtained an Internet Content Provider (ICP) license from local telecom regulators, according to data compiled by Yingcan Zixun, which tracks the industry. That means that nearly 90 percent of P2P platforms are operating outside the legal framework, the firm said.