Students borrowing money for cosmetic surgery

More students in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, are taking out loans for plastic surgery as access to the financial service increases.

About one-sixth of the 300 or so students who had cosmetic surgery at Guangzhou Huamei Aesthetic Hospital over the summer borrowed money for the purpose, according to Peng Weihong, assistant to the general manager of the hospital, one of the largest cosmetic surgery providers in the city.

Since mid-2015, a number of lenders targeting cosmetic surgery have tried to grab a slice of the market. Ant Financial Services Group, the online finance company backed by e-commerce giant Alibaba, began offering loans and installment payment programs for cosmetic surgery in March, said Ke Sufang, a senior researcher at Qianzhan Industry Research Institute, a consulting agency.