Chongqing Bank Halts Three Co-lending Products, Retains Only Risk-sharing WeBank Microloan

Chongqing Bank has updated its official list of personal internet loan products, marking a significant shift in its partnership strategy with fintech platforms.

According to the bank's website, a list updated on September 15 shows that three products — Meituan's "Living Expenses" (生活费), Meituan's "Business Loan" (生意贷), and JD.com's "Gold Bar" (金条) — have been labeled as "discontinued." The only product retained is "Weilidai" (微粒贷), operated in partnership with Shenzhen Qianhai WeBank, which is now explicitly categorized as a "joint funding model (non-co-lending)."

Industry observers note that this approach is uncommon. It marks the first time a city commercial bank has clearly distinguished between co-lending and joint funding models in its public product disclosures, completely halting co-lending partnerships while retaining only risk-sharing arrangements. Previous adjustments by peers have typically involved "full withdrawal from partnership loans" or "reducing the number of partner institutions," rather than categorizing by business type.

Product-by-Product Breakdown

The adjustment involves four partnership-based personal internet loan products. Key details are as follows:

| Product | Partner Institution | Business Model | Loan Limit | Interest Rate Cap | |---|---|---|---|---| | Weilidai (微粒贷) | Shenzhen Qianhai WeBank | Joint funding (共同出资) | Up to 200,000 RMB | 21.6% | | Meituan Living Expenses (美团生活费) | SanKuai XiaoDai / LiangXin JinCheng | Co-lending + co-lending hybrid | Up to 200,000 RMB | 24% | | Meituan Business Loan (美团生意贷) | SanKuai XiaoDai / LiangXin JinCheng | Co-lending + co-lending hybrid | Up to 500,000 RMB | 24% | | JD Gold Bar (京东金条) | YunHan Information / SuQian ZhaoKe | Pure co-lending (纯助贷) | Up to 200,000 RMB | 24% |

How the Models Differ

• Weilidai (Joint Funding): Chongqing Bank and WeBank jointly act as lenders, providing funds proportionally, collecting interest on their respective shares, and sharing responsibilities for post-lending collection and dispute resolution.
• Meituan Products (Hybrid Co-lending): Chongqing Bank provides funds and handles loan approval and post-lending risk monitoring. SanKuai XiaoDai provides funds and is responsible for customer acquisition and marketing, while jointly managing post-lending activities. LiangXin JinCheng handles customer acquisition, marketing, and collection.
• JD Gold Bar (Pure Co-lending): All funds come from Chongqing Bank. YunHan Information handles customer acquisition and marketing, and participates in post-lending management. SuQian ZhaoKe is responsible for collection.

A notable detail: the three discontinued products have an interest rate cap of 24%, while the retained Weilidai product has a cap of 21.6%. All products offer differentiated pricing based on customer credit profiles, with actual rates displayed on loan application pages.

The Risk-Sharing Divide

Chongqing Bank's取舍 between co-lending and joint funding reflects fundamental differences in risk allocation. The industry generally recognizes four common models for online loan partnerships:

1. Pure Co-lending (纯助贷): Platforms leverage traffic, scenarios, and user data for customer acquisition, initial screening, and some post-lending services. Banks provide funds, conduct independent approval, and manage risk independently. Platforms bear virtually no credit risk, with bad debts ultimately recorded on the bank's balance sheet — often summarized as "banks provide the money, platforms provide the people."

1. Joint Loans (联合贷款): Banks and licensed institutions (e.g., small-loan companies, consumer finance firms) jointly provide funds and extend loans according to an agreed ratio, with both parties contributing actual capital.

1. Joint Funding (共同出资): Both parties share risks and returns proportionally based on capital contributions. Typically, the partner's contribution to any single loan must be at least 30%. Banks still independently complete risk assessment and credit approval.

1. Bank Self-Operated (银行自营): Banks acquire customers through their own channels, manage risk independently, and provide full funding without relying on external partners.

Co-lending has historically dominated the market. Industry insiders point out that its persistence stems from complementary capabilities: banks have funds and licenses but lack high-frequency consumer credit acquisition scenarios, while platforms have traffic, scenarios, and data but lack low-cost funding and lending qualifications. Co-lending allowed both sides to benefit, driving rapid industry expansion.

However, the risk implications are fundamentally different. Under co-lending, bad debts are primarily borne by banks, while platform profits are tied to loan volume — a structure that can incentivize "scale over risk control." In contrast, joint funding requires partners to commit real capital and share risks proportionally, aligning risk appetites and control investments. This model is seen as more aligned with regulatory guidance emphasizing "banks' primary responsibility for independent risk control."

Regulatory and Operational Constraints

Joint funding is not without barriers. Regional banks are generally prohibited from conducting internet loans outside their registered jurisdictions. Both parties must also meet regulatory requirements including capital adequacy, single-partner concentration limits, and total internet loan caps. These conditions make the model difficult for all institutions to replicate.

Retail Asset Quality Pressure

Chongqing Bank's decision to adjust co-lending partnerships may be linked to pressure on its retail asset quality.

According to its 2026 semi-annual report:

• Overall performance: Total assets reached 1.1089 trillion RMB as of June 30, up 7.27% from end-2025. H1 operating income was 8.486 billion RMB (+10.79% YoY), net profit attributable to shareholders was 3.518 billion RMB (+10.29% YoY), and the overall NPL ratio was 1.11% (down 0.03 percentage points from end-2025).
• Retail segment contraction: Total retail loan principal was 88.554 billion RMB, down 8.148 billion RMB (-8.43%) from end-2025, with its share of total loans falling from 18.28% to 15.27%.
• Retail asset quality deterioration: The retail NPL ratio rose to 3.32%, up 0.09 percentage points from end-2025 (3.23% at end-2025, 1.98% in 2023). Retail NPL balance was approximately 2.94 billion RMB. By comparison, the corporate loan NPL ratio was just 0.76%.

One Year After the Co-Lending Rules

Chongqing Bank's adjustment takes on greater significance when viewed against the broader industry backdrop.

In October 2025, the "Notice on Strengthening the Management of Commercial Banks' Internet Co-Lending Business to Improve Financial Service Quality and Efficiency" (commonly known as the "Co-Lending Rules") took effect. It requires banks' head offices to implement list-based management of platform operators and credit enhancement service providers, and to disclose and dynamically update these lists on official websites. The rules are approaching their one-year anniversary.

Over the past year, multiple banks have announced the cessation or reduction of internet co-lending partnerships:

• Urumqi Bank: Stopped issuing partnership-based personal internet consumer loans (including joint loans and co-lending) from October 1, 2025, involving 9 platform operators and 8 credit enhancement service providers.
• Longjiang Bank: Its only listed platform operator is marked as "cooperation terminated."
• Ganzhou Bank: All three listed institutions are marked as "cooperation terminated."
• Jiaxing Bank and Wenzhou Bank: Announced cessation of internet loan partnerships on their websites.
• Guiyang Bank: Suspended new internet co-lending business.
• Jilin Yilian Bank: Significantly reduced the number of partner institutions.
• Weihai Blue Ocean Bank: Listed 40 institutions as "suspended" in a March 2026 disclosure.

Unlike some banks that have taken a blanket approach to exiting partnership loans, Chongqing Bank has retained joint funding while halting co-lending — effectively preserving a path that aligns risk-sharing with responsibility.

Industry Self-Regulation and Outlook

In recent years, regulators have issued a series of policies requiring lenders to strengthen their primary risk control responsibilities, address unreasonable pricing mechanisms, and improve consumer protection. Industry self-regulatory organizations are also promoting specific operational standards.

On September 18, five industry associations, including the China Internet Finance Association, jointly issued the "Self-Regulatory Standards for Transparent Disclosure of Comprehensive Financing Costs in Personal Loan Business." The standards clarify operational requirements for transparent disclosure of comprehensive financing costs, promoting further transparency and standardization of personal loan fees.

Wang Pengbo, senior analyst at Botong Consulting, highlighted three key elements of the standards:

1. Explicit prohibition of using "daily interest rate" or "monthly fee rate" for conceptual packaging.
2. Clarification that lending institutions bear primary responsibility, even when operating through internet platforms.
3. Provision of standardized disclosure templates for various business scenarios, offering directly reusable templates for the entire industry.

Wang expects the co-lending industry cleanup to proceed smoothly, with non-compliant institutions gradually exiting. After institutions complete compliance rectification, industry operations are expected to enter a new stable state.

Looking ahead, the co-lending industry is shifting from "broad coverage" to "targeted selection." Capital and resources are concentrating among top-tier platforms, while the survival space for smaller platforms continues to shrink — a classic Matthew effect. Whether Chongqing Bank's approach — as the first city commercial bank to formally distinguish between co-lending and joint funding in public disclosures — will be adopted by more peers, and whether it can truly address the bank's self-operated and customer acquisition shortcomings, remains to be seen. The industry's true transformation may have only just begun.