Heightened Chinese Inflation Pushes Renren.com To Offer Employee Loans

Chinese social networking website Renren.com has announced that it will launch an interest-free housing scheme, and employees can apply for loans of between CNY200,000 and CNY400,000.

Chen Yizhou, chief executive officer of Renren.com, told local media that the rapid development of Renren.com is attributed to the efforts and commitment of employees. Renren.com will not only offer jobs to employees, it will establish a platform for their career development. Meanwhile, the social media company will help employees solve other difficulties in their lives to provide them with a sense of security and belonging.

A statement from the People’s Bank of China yesterday outlined that “expectations for future price increases remain strong” in China. These prices increases put pressure on employees’ ability to buy homes, pay rent, and buy food.

Likewise, last month Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba announced plans to launch a CNY3 billion housing loan scheme for its employees and a CNY500 million education fund to solve the preschool and primary education problems of children of its employees.

For Renren.com’s plan, the company states that it will make comprehensive evaluation in accordance to employees’ service period and income level in the company. Employees who have served the company for more than two years will have the privilege to apply for the loan, but those who make extraordinary contributions to the company will also be taken into consideration.

All employees who meet the evaluation standards of Renren.com can apply for the interest-free loan between CNY200,000 and CNY400,000. This is reportedly the highest line of credit among Chinese companies that offer interest-free housing loans. The repayment period is six to eight years, which is also quite liberal and longer than the lifecycle of many Internet firms.

In addition, the loan is limited to the payment for the first housing units in the cities the employees work in.