Shadow Banking Is Hurting China’s Banks — And That’s a Good Thing

"How can the world’s second-largest economy function at all? Enter shadow bankers - broadly defined as lenders outside the formal banking system. They include mom-and-pop lending operations, companies lending excess cash to each other, pawnshops, and recently tech companies running money market funds. Unlike shadow banking in the West, shadow banking in China is a necessity, helping build factories, mines, infrastructure projects, and other activities, and creating jobs."