THIRTEEN P2P (Peer-to-Peer) lending websites in Shenzhen were either closed or making it difficult for investors to claim their money in November alone, according to statistics from www.p2peye.com.

    The number of Shenzhen’s P2P lending websites that were closed last month took up the majority of that in Guangdong Province, which reported 14 closures. It also accounted for 19 percent of the closed P2Ps nationwide.

    Among the 13 lending platforms, four were closed because of financial difficulty, and owners or executives of another nine disappeared after they couldn’t pay back investors.

    Statistics show 71 lending platforms in the country ran into financial problems in November, an increase of 50 percent over the same period of the previous year.

    “This is a conservative estimate,” said Yuan Yao, CEO with www.beesbank.com.cn, a P2P website. “The competition for lending platforms to attract investors is becoming fierce. One or two years ago, we could attract an investor by spending 300 yuan (US$46.88) to 500 yuan on promotions, but the cost now is 1,000 yuan to 2,000 yuan. Many small-sized lending platforms went bankrupt because they couldn’t afford the cost,” Yuan said.

    Shenzhen has the most P2P lending platforms in Guangdong Province. They are facing financial pressure and the number of P2P websites going into bankruptcy may increase in December and January, according to Yuan.

    “It might sound exaggerated to say that 80 to 90 percent of the lending platforms will die, but lending platforms won’t survive if they don’t have a clear strategy and an innovative business model,” Hong Jianrong, CEO of another lending platform, said.

    (Han Ximin)