Now, one year after the rules took effect, the direction of the industry is becoming increasingly clear. China's leading lending facilitation platforms are generally making a return to the core of technology services being the focus of their rectification efforts, proactively scaling back areas of ambiguity in their previous business models.

　　Zeng Gang, director of the Tianfu Liyan Financial Research Institute, said, "As a landmark regulatory document in the online lending sector, the new regulations do not merely restrict the industry's development; their core purpose is to clarify the boundaries of rights and responsibilities among banks, lending facilitation platforms and credit enhancement institutions, reinforce the primary responsibility of licensed financial institutions for risk management, and guide the loan facilitation industry from traffic-driven scale expansion toward a new phase of high-quality development characterized by controllable risks and a balance of rights and responsibilities."

　　In recent years, financial regulators have introduced a series of measures requiring lending institutions to take full responsibility for risk management, while addressing problems in online lending such as mismatched rights, responsibilities and benefits, unreasonable pricing mechanisms, and inadequate protection of financial consumers' rights and interests. In line with the regulatory direction, many lending institutions have been systematically reducing their reliance on lending facilitation platforms.

　　The latest lists of partner institutions disclosed by banks show that internet-facilitated lending businesses have contracted significantly, although strategies vary from bank to bank.