Shoppers in a mall in Shenyang, in northeast China's Liaoning province, on March 22. Chinese consumers are facing a real stress test in 2020. Photo: Xinhua Shoppers in a mall in Shenyang, in northeast China's Liaoning province, on March 22. Chinese consumers are facing a real stress test in 2020. Photo: Xinhua
Shoppers in a mall in Shenyang, in northeast China's Liaoning province, on March 22. Chinese consumers are facing a real stress test in 2020. Photo: Xinhua
Joe Zhang
Opinion

Opinion

The View by Joe Zhang

Trade war and the coronavirus will bring China’s quietly raging consumer debt crisis to a head

  • Online lenders and other more traditional nonbank players are sinking further into trouble as a weakening Chinese economy takes its toll
  • Given China’s weak legal infrastructure and the government’s populist bent, expect the fallout to hurt banks and destroy many nonbank financial institutions

Joe Zhang
Joe Zhang

Updated: 1:51am, 25 Mar, 2020

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Shoppers in a mall in Shenyang, in northeast China's Liaoning province, on March 22. Chinese consumers are facing a real stress test in 2020. Photo: Xinhua Shoppers in a mall in Shenyang, in northeast China's Liaoning province, on March 22. Chinese consumers are facing a real stress test in 2020. Photo: Xinhua
Shoppers in a mall in Shenyang, in northeast China's Liaoning province, on March 22. Chinese consumers are facing a real stress test in 2020. Photo: Xinhua
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Joe Zhang

Joe Zhang

Joe Zhang is vice-chairman of YX Asset Recovery, the biggest consumer debt restructuring agency with 13,000 employees, and author of Inside China’s Shadow Banking: The Next Subprime Crisis?