Shadow lending is not new in China. In an economy where access to official credit is typically limited to local governments and large state-owned corporations, smaller private enterprises have long relied on informal lending markets in times of need. Since 2009, shadow lending in China has undergone a dramatic transformation, both quantitative and qualitative. Between 2005 and 2009, informal lending markets rarely accounted for more than a few percent of total credit in the Chinese economy, usually taking the form of the underground loan shark who charges 35 percent interest and ensures repayment by threat of physical violence. Since 2009, however, and especially following Beijing's sudden clampdown on official lending to property markets in the second half of 2011, the shadow banking sector's share of total credit in the Chinese economy jumped to between 9 and 22 percent, depending on how "shadow" is defined.