The Rise and Standardized Development of Internet Finance

In 2013, the rapid development of internet finance in China gave rise to the “Catfish Effect” in the country’s financial sector, triggering a wave of innovation in the industry. It expanded the scope of financial services, extended the financial industry chain, and rapidly enhanced the competitiveness of China’s financial industry. However, the emergence of internet finance on the basis of the “three nos” (no entry threshold, no industry standards, no relevant regulatory controls) also brought significant risks. Incidents such as defaults, disappearances, and fraud became rampant, affecting and disrupting the normal development order of China’s financial industry and harming the rights of numerous investors. In response, regulatory bodies such as the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) continuously explored measures to regulate the development of internet finance. They introduced various measures to lay the foundation for the increasingly standardized and healthy development of internet finance.