An annual interest rate of more than 36%(3.6 points) is usury.

The Supreme People's Court's "Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Private Lending Cases" stipulates in Article 26:

If the interest rate agreed between the borrower and the borrower 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.

As can be seen from the above, since the Supreme People's Court's Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Trial of Private Lending Cases came into effect on September 1 2065, the standard of usury is no longer based on whether the annual interest rate exceeds 24%, but on whether it exceeds 36%, that is to say, it does not belong to usury.

Extended data

According to Article 211 of the Contract Law: "If the loan contract between natural persons stipulates to pay interest, the loan interest rate shall not violate the relevant provisions of the state on limiting the loan interest rate".

At the same time, according to the relevant provisions of "Opinions of the Supreme People's Court on People's Courts Handling Lending Cases": "The interest rate of private lending may be appropriately higher than that of banks, but the maximum shall not exceed four times that of similar loans of banks". Loan sharks are those whose interest rate exceeds four times that of similar loans from banks.

Therefore, the principal of private usury in private lending is protected, and the interest that does not exceed 4 times the interest rate of similar loans of banks is also protected by law, and the excess is not protected by law.

If the folk usury violates the criminal law, it will also be subject to relevant criminal penalties.

China Court Network: Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Private Lending Cases