While China’s state-owned banks plot debt-for-equity swaps to cut bad loans, one troubled peer-to-peer lender has brewed up a more novel plan: repaying its investors in baijiu, the popular Chinese liquor.

就在中国的国有银行谋划以债转股来削减不良贷款的同时，一家陷入困境的P2P贷款平台炮制出一个更加新颖的计划：用很多中国人爱喝的白酒偿还投资者。

Chinatou.com said last week that it was no longer able to return cash to investors following the arrest of its chairman. Instead, it pledged to pay them in baijiu produced by a connected company in order “to minimise the loss to investors”.

该P2P网站徽融通(Chinatou.com)上周表示，在其董事长被捕后，将不再有能力向投资者返还现金。它宣称将以其关联企业生产的白酒作为偿还，以"减少投资者损失"。

The company, which is based in eastern Anhui province, owed Rmb230m ($35m) to 1,850 investors as of the middle of last month, according to Caixin, a respected Chinese business magazine.

据受到尊敬的中国财经杂志《财新》报道，总部位于华东安徽省的该公司截至上月中旬共计欠1850名投资者2.3亿元人民币（合3500万美元）。

Peer-to-peer lenders — who take in cash from investors and lend it directly to other individuals or businesses — have been growing rapidly in China over the last couple of years. Total outstanding debt in the sector hit Rmb576bn at the end of May, according to Online Lending House, a Chinese website tracking the sector.

此类通过向投资者募集资金并直接向其他个人或公司放贷的P2P贷款机构，过去两年在中国快速增长。据中国一家跟踪该行业的门户网站“网贷之家”(Online Lending House)称，截止5月底，该行业未偿付贷款总额达5760亿元人民币。

But the largely unregulated sector, part of the country’s bigger system of shadow banking, has been hit by an increasing number of scandals from badly run operations to full-on frauds, such as the multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme at a company called Ezubao.

但这一基本上不受监管的行业（中国更庞大的影子银行体系的一部分）受到越来越多丑闻（从经营不善到彻头彻尾的欺诈）打击，例如一家叫e租宝的公司爆出的巨额庞氏骗局。

Earlier this year, China’s central bank and other authorities launched a wide-ranging crackdown on fraud in the internet finance sector, spanning everything from peer-to-peer lending to equity crowdfunding and online insurance.

今年早些时候，中国央行和其他监管机构发起了大范围的互联网金融打假行动，互联网金融涵盖P2P贷款、股权众筹和网上保险等多种活动。

The Chinese government, which has come under attack for its management of the currency and stock markets, is worried that financial scandals could threaten stability in the banking sector.

因汇市和股市管理不善而受到批评的中国政府担心，金融丑闻会威胁整个银行业的稳定。

Zhou Qinde, the chairman of Chinatou.com, was arrested after investors complained about him earlier this month, the Anhui province-based company said on its website.

该公司在其网站上称，徽融通主席周勤得在本月早些时候被投资人投诉后已被刑拘。

Mr Zhou is also the chairman of the Anhui Longshu Liquor Company, whose products were offered to Chinatou.com investors in place of cash.

周勤得也是安徽龙舒酒业有限公司的董事长，该公司的产品取代了徽融通应向投资者偿付的现金。

The peer-to-peer lender said on its website that it aspires to be the “pilot for the efficient use of private capital, the dreams of young entrepreneurs and the spring of China’s microfinance sector”.

该P2P平台在其网站上称，该公司立志为“民间资本的高效利用、年轻创业者的梦想、为中国小微金融的春天开路领航”。

A story in the Beijing News, a state-controlled media outlet, warned that baijiu was a bad investment choice for investors because the value is difficult to assess and it is difficult to sell.

国有控股的媒体《新京报》的一篇报道警告说，白酒对投资者来说是糟糕的投资选择，因为其价值很难评估，而且很难售出。

Chinese drink between 10 and 17 billion litres of the grain-based liquor — sometimes dubbed “firewater” — each year and a bottle can cost anywhere from a few dollars to a few hundred thousand for the best vintages.

中国人每年喝掉100亿至170亿升用谷物酿造的白酒（有时也被称为"烧酒"），每瓶售价最便宜为几美元，最贵的佳酿可能高达每瓶数十万美元。