Crowdfunding in China

Abstract

China’s crowdfunding market differs a lot from the one in the West. Whilst some aspects of the original model have been adopted by Chinese actors—e.g. the idea of donation-based crowdfunding—other features have been amended or invented according to China specific needs—e.g. e-commerce crowdfunding. Moreover, whilst America and Europe provide many examples of typical start-up CFPs, which grew self-sufficiently and by means of commission, China’s crowdfunding market is dominated by established players and start-up CFPs with substantial capitalisation. Chinese crowdfunding is foremost affected by the country’s long history of informal finance and its advanced internet sector; therein, in particular, by China’s mobile internet sector, its e-commerce industry and also its payments sector. Moreover, the influence of cultural dimensions and specific Chinese habits, beliefs and values should not be underestimated. Ultimately, crowdfunding in China has become a hybrid of Western crowdfunding, China’s culture and Chinese capitalism.