China’s Anti-Monopoly Crackdown Hits Banking Sector

Q: What share of the Chinese unsecured consumer loan market do digital banks hold?

According to research released in January by McKinsey, Chinese digital banks own roughly 5 percent of the country’s 5 trillion yuan unsecured consumer loan market. They also hold over 7 percent of the SME loan market.

By Wei ZhangChina

1 min readUpdated Jun 4, 2025Nov 24, 20217:46 AM

In this article (5)

Chinese regulators extend their antitrust crackdown to the banking sector with a fine against shareholders of a virtual lender.

The shareholders of Chinese virtual lender AliBank – China Citic Bank (70 percent) and a Baidu unit called Fujian Baidu Bo Rui Netcom (30 percent) – have been fined 500,000 yuan ($78,280) over a violation of the country’s anti-monopoly law, according to a statement from the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR).

SAMR issued a fine over the failure to report the AiBank joint venture ahead of its formation in 2015.

The penalty was part of a broader batch of more than 40 cases with fines issued to other tech firms outside of the banking sector such as JD.com, Tencent, Baidu, ByteDance, and Alibaba.

AiBank is an artificial intelligence-focused lender that leverages related capabilities from search engine giant Baidu.

It is one of five licensed digital banks in China and the only one with a state-backed shareholder in Citic.

According to research by McKinsey released in January, Chinese digital banks own roughly 5 percent of the country’s 5 trillion yuan unsecured consumer loan market and over 7 percent of the SME loan market.

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Questions & Answers

Which specific companies were fined in relation to the AliBank joint venture?

The shareholders of the virtual lender AliBank, China Citic Bank and a Baidu unit named Fujian Baidu Bo Rui Netcom, were fined. China Citic Bank holds 70 percent ownership, while the Baidu unit owns 30 percent.

What was the total fine imposed on the AliBank shareholders?

The shareholders of AliBank were collectively fined 500,000 yuan. This amount is equivalent to approximately $78,280, according to the State Administration for Market Regulation.

What was the reason given for the fine against AliBank's shareholders?

The fine was issued because the AliBank joint venture was not reported to regulators before its formation in 2015. This omission constituted a violation of the country’s anti-monopoly law.

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