中國一家P2P平臺擬用白酒償付投資者
While China’s state-owned banks plot debt-for-equity swaps to cut bad loans, one troubled peer-to-peer lender has brewed up a more novel plan: repaying its investors in baijiu, the popular Chinese liquor.
就在中國的國有銀行謀劃以債轉股來削減不良貸款的同時，一家陷入困境的P2P貸款平臺炮製出一個更加新穎的計劃：用很多中國人愛喝的白酒償還投資者。
said last week that it was no longer able to return cash to investors following the arrest of its chairman. Instead, it pledged to pay them in baijiu produced by a connected company in order “to minimise the loss to investors”.
該P2P網站徽融通()上週表示，在其董事長被捕後，將不再有能力向投資者返還現金。它宣稱將以其關聯企業生產的白酒作爲償還，以"減少投資者損失"。
The company, which is based in eastern Anhui province, owed Rmb230m ($35m) to 1,850 investors as of the middle of last month, according to Caixin, a respected Chinese business magazine.
據受到尊敬的中國財經雜誌《財新》報道，總部位於華東安徽省的該公司截至上月中旬共計欠1850名投資者2.3億元人民幣（合3500萬美元）。
Peer-to-peer lenders — who take in cash from investors and lend it directly to other individuals or businesses — have been growing rapidly in China over the last couple of years. Total outstanding debt in the sector hit Rmb576bn at the end of May, according to Online Lending House, a Chinese website tracking the sector.
此類通過向投資者募集資金並直接向其他個人或公司放貸的P2P貸款機構，過去兩年在中國快速增長。據中國一家跟蹤該行業的門戶網站“網貸之家”(Online Lending House)稱，截止5月底，該行業未償付貸款總額達5760億元人民幣。
But the largely unregulated sector, part of the country’s bigger system of shadow banking, has been hit by an increasing number of scandals from badly run operations to full-on frauds, such as the multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme at a company called Ezubao.
但這一基本上不受監管的行業（中國更龐大的影子銀行體系的一部分）受到越來越多醜聞（從經營不善到徹頭徹尾的欺詐）打擊，例如一家叫e租寶的公司爆出的鉅額龐氏騙局。
Earlier this year, China’s central bank and other authorities launched a wide-ranging crackdown on fraud in the internet finance sector, spanning everything from peer-to-peer lending to equity crowdfunding and online insurance.
今年早些時候，中國央行和其他監管機構發起了大範圍的互聯網金融打假行動，互聯網金融涵蓋P2P貸款、股權衆籌和網上保險等多種活動。
The Chinese government, which has come under attack for its management of the currency and stock markets, is worried that financial scandals could threaten stability in the banking sector.
因匯市和股市管理不善而受到批評的中國政府擔心，金融醜聞會威脅整個銀行業的穩定。
Zhou Qinde, the chairman of , was arrested after investors complained about him earlier this month, the Anhui province-based company said on its website.
該公司在其網站上稱，徽融通主席周勤得在本月早些時候被投資人投訴後已被刑拘。
Mr Zhou is also the chairman of the Anhui Longshu Liquor Company, whose products were offered to investors in place of cash.
周勤得也是安徽龍舒酒業有限公司的董事長，該公司的產品取代了徽融通應向投資者償付的現金。
The peer-to-peer lender said on its website that it aspires to be the “pilot for the efficient use of private capital, the dreams of young entrepreneurs and the spring of China’s microfinance sector”.
該P2P平臺在其網站上稱，該公司立志爲“民間資本的高效利用、年輕創業者的夢想、爲中國小微金融的春天開路領航”。
A story in the Beijing News, a state-controlled media outlet, warned that baijiu was a bad investment choice for investors because the value is difficult to assess and it is difficult to sell.
國有控股的媒體《新京報》的一篇報道警告說，白酒對投資者來說是糟糕的投資選擇，因爲其價值很難評估，而且很難售出。
Chinese drink between 10 and 17 billion litres of the grain-based liquor — sometimes dubbed “firewater” — each year and a bottle can cost anywhere from a few dollars to a few hundred thousand for the best vintages.
中國人每年喝掉100億至170億升用穀物釀造的白酒（有時也被稱爲"燒酒"），每瓶售價最便宜爲幾美元，最貴的佳釀可能高達每瓶數十萬美元。
