China is currently the front-runner on the global crowdfunding market, even though this form of financing originated in the USA. Crowdfunding in China, however, differs significantly from its counterpart in the West. This book reveals that Chinese crowdfunding is a product of the country’s dynamic internet sector, which is based on mobile internet, e-commerce, and online/mobile payments, together with significant government support. The author presents a comprehensive theoretical, empirical and field-based work on crowdfunding in China. Adopting a new institutional economics approach, it maps and deciphers the origins and paths of informal finance that have led to internet finance and the rise of crowdfunding platforms. In addition, three case studies are analyzed and their implications for crowdfunding stakeholders in China are discussed.

中国目前是全球众筹市场的领跑者，尽管这种融资形式起源于美国。然而，中国的众筹与西方的众筹有很大的不同。这本书揭示了中国的众筹是中国充满活力的互联网行业的产物，该行业以移动互联网、电子商务、在线/移动支付为基础，加上政府的大力支持。本文作者在理论、实证和实地调查的基础上，对中国众筹进行了全面的研究。它采用了一种新的制度经济学方法，绘制并解读了导致互联网金融和众筹平台兴起的非正规金融的起源和路径。此外，本文还分析了三个案例，并讨论了它们对中国众筹利益相关者的启示。