Privately owned banks have made the most sweeping adjustments. With relatively few offline branches and a weaker customer base, China's private banks had previously been the most dependent on internet-facilitated lending channels, and have therefore made the sharpest cuts. For example, customer-acquisition partners of Jilin Yillion Bank Co, the first privately owned bank in Northeast China, fell from 56 in November 2024 to 10 in July 2026, a decline of more than 80 percent.

　　Zeng said the implementation of the new lending facilitation rules has already begun to meet regulators' expectations, as reflected in the shrinking number of partner institutions, tighter platform access requirements, the return of core risk-control functions to banks and adjustments to business models.

　　He said the previously extensive growth model of using lending facilitation platforms as a substitute for banks' own retail capabilities is being corrected.

A photographer takes pictures of the display screens of MYbank's AI bank product during the 2026 Inclusion Conference on the Bund in Shanghai on Sept 12. CHEN YUYU/FOR CHINA DAILY

　　Hu Xu, head of research at the Chinese Academy of Financial Inclusion at Renmin University of China, said internet-facilitated lending still has value, but cooperation with lending facilitation institutions cannot replace a bank's independent risk management, nor should it turn banks into mere funding channels.

　　For private banks and city commercial banks, Hu said, reducing cooperation with lending facilitation institutions is only the beginning. The real challenge is to strengthen their own customer acquisition and risk management capabilities while properly managing their existing loan portfolios.