The rich farming soil in central China is an unlikely field for financial innovation but that is exactly what it has become.
When Shang Meigong faced a cash crunch in her vegetable seed business in Xiangyang, Hubei province, she was turned away by local banks and decided to look to the internet for funds. CreditEase, the biggest of a fast-growing pack of peer-to-peer lending websites, paired her up with wealthy people across the country who lent the Rmb50,000 ($7,900) that she needed.
“It took just a few days to get it. The interest rate was lower than from loan sharks and higher than from banks, but the banks wouldn’t lend me anything,” Ms Shang says.
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