(Yicai Global) April 24 -- The opening of Ping An Insurance Group’s new consumer finance unitis being regarded as a key step in the business transformation of the unit’s biggest shareholder and Ping An’sfintech arm, Lufax, which began as a peer-to-peer lender nine years ago.

Shanghai Lujiazui International Financial Asset Exchange, Lufax’s official name,has a 70 percent indirect stake in Ping An Consumer Finance and supplies its chairman and general manager, according to publicly available information.

Set up in 2011, Lufax has been moving away from P2P lending as Chinese regulators have clamped down hard on the sector to limit financial risks.

The new company secured the regulatory green light on April 9 after less than six months of preparation. With a registered capital of CNY5 billion (USD707.6 million) it is second only to Home Credit Consumer Finance in China’s booming consumer finance sector.

Ping An Consumer Finance will offer smart online services, targeting the so-called consumption upgrade of young clients, Chairman Chen Dongqi said at the opening ceremony yesterday.

The difference between bank interest rates and the ones that Ping An Consumer Finance offers will cover its costs, according to an earlier statement by its Shenzhen-basedparent.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine