Legal basis: Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Private Lending Cases.
Article 1 The term "private lending" as mentioned in these Provisions refers to the financing behavior among natural persons, legal persons and other organizations and among them. These provisions shall not apply to financial institutions and their branches engaged in loan business established with the approval of the financial supervision department, as well as disputes arising from loans and other related financial businesses.
Article 26 If the interest rate agreed between the borrower and the lender does not exceed the annual interest rate of 24%, and the lender requests the borrower to pay interest at the agreed interest rate, the people's court shall support it. The interest rate agreed between the borrower and the borrower exceeds the annual interest rate of 36%, and the interest agreement in excess is invalid. The people's court shall support the borrower's request to the lender to return the part of the interest paid that exceeds 36% per annum.