The Supreme People's Court ("SPC") recently issued the Official Reply to the Issues concerning the Scope of Application of New Judicial Interpretation on Private Lending (the "Reply"), with effect from January 1, 2021.

The Reply clarifies that, after seeking comments from financial regulatory authorities, new judicial interpretation on private lending shall not apply to disputes arising from the engagement in relevant financial business by seven types of local financial organizations regulated by local financial regulatory authorities, namely, small loan companies, financing guarantee companies, regional equity markets, pawnbrokers, financial leasing companies, commercial factoring companies, and local asset management companies, and they are considered as financial institutions established upon the approval of the financial regulatory authorities.

(Source: Supreme People’s Court)