P2P lending now third most-used investment option

Peer-to-peer lending is now China's third most popular choice for investments of less than 500,000 yuan ($77,150), according to a new survey.

P2P lender iqianjin.com and AdMaster, a marketing data technology company, polled 5,000 individuals and found 38 percent had invested their money in products available on P2P lending platforms, which allow small businesses and individuals to borrow from each other directly.

This type of lending is now ahead of bank deposits (37 percent) and stocks (35 percent), and trail only Internet-based investment services (76 percent) and wealth management products sold by commercial banks (40 percent), said the study.