China to reduce interest rates to encourage lending

China will reduce the interest rates of various structural monetary instruments by 0.25 percentage points in order to boost lending, with the one-year interest rate on various central bank lending facilities to be lowered from the current 1.5 percent to 1.25 percent, Zou Lan, vice-governor of the People's Bank of China, said.

The minimum down payment ratio for loans to purchase commercial properties will be lowered to 30 percent to help reduce inventory in the commercial real estate market, Zou said at a news conference on Thursday.

The PBOC will also increase the central bank lending quota for technological innovation and equipment upgrades by 40 billion yuan ($5.74 billion) — from 80 billion yuan to 120 billion yuan — while incorporating private small and medium-sized enterprises with relatively high research and development investment in the eligible coverage.

Financing channels other than loans, such as bonds, accounted for more than 50 percent of newly-added social financing in 2025, demonstrating the achievements of the supply-side structural reform of the financial sector, Zou added.