The Wall Street Journal reports: "Chinese companies are increasingly stepping in as lenders, as banks reduce their funding to struggling industries and the country's mammoth bond market comes under strain. Company-to-company loans in China jumped by 20% last year to 13.2 trillion yuan ($1.92 trillion), according to research firm CEIC. That is roughly double the size of the loan book at Wells Fargo & Co., the U.S.'s biggest lender...The most recent surge came during the selloff in China's $9.3 trillion bond market late last year. Big, cash-rich companies—mostly state-owned enterprises and some private companies—stepped in: New entrusted loans rose to 405.7 billion yuan ($59.02 billion) in December, more than double the month prior, according to data tracker Wind Information, and the highest monthly issuance in two years. But the practice poses broader risks for China's economy. Instead of investing in their core business, companies can earn interest rates of up to 20% making entrusted loans, often with only cursory checks on borrowers' creditworthiness. Such lending often props up companies in sectors like mining and property whereBeijing wants to reduce excess capacity."