Exploring the Practice Patterns, Operational Characteristics and Optimization Strategies of Rural Informal Finance in the Context of Digital Economy: Based on a Field Survey in Shandong, Hebei and Sichuan Provinces, China

Rural informal finance, as a beneficial supplement to formal finance, has always played an irreplaceable role. Based on the field survey data of Shandong, Hebei and Sichuan provinces in China, the study analyzes the practice patterns, operational characteristics and optimization strategies of rural informal finance in the context of digital economy. The study finds that rural informal finance exists in a variety of practice patterns, such as online private lending, informal financial organizations, online platform lending, etc., and presents operational characteristics such as digital forms, diversified groups, embeddedness in regional cultures, and relatively insufficient credit constraints. In the context of building a strong financial country and accelerating rural revitalization, the author proposes the optimization strategies of improving the structure of the rural credit system, constructing and implementing differentiated regulatory strategies, leading the rural informal finance to achieve the development of characteristics, and accelerating the gathering and development of rural financial professionals, aiming at helping the rural informal finance to achieve high-quality development.