[seanmcdirmid]

It used to be that even house loans were rare. Things have changed very rapidly in the last 10 years, and even credit card debt is a concern to the middle class now (if you can believe the Chinese press, see http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/hk20threturn/2017-04/24/c...).

Then there are the traditional loan sharks in china’s informal sector that have been around forever and don’t show up in official stats (not to mention less dangerous friend/family lending).