China keeps benchmark lending rates steady for a seventh straight month
BEIJING, CHINA – NOVEMBER 11: China’s national flag flies in front of the headquarters of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) on November 11, 2025 in Beijing, China. The PBOC serves as the country’s central bank, overseeing monetary policy, financial regulation, and currency issuance. (Photo: Cheng Xin/Getty Images)
Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The People’s Bank of China maintained its stance loan interest rates are fixed This despite weak economic data and a prolonged slump in real estate in the world’s second-largest economy on Monday.
The People’s Bank of China kept its 1-year and 5-year loan interest rates constant at 3% and 3.5%, respectively, for the seventh consecutive meeting, in line with the Reuters survey.
The 1-year rate serves as a reference point for new loans, while the 5-year rate helps lock in mortgage rates.
The PBOC’s decision comes amid negative economic data from China in November, including lower-than-expected retail sales and industrial production.
Retail sales increased 1.3% last month compared to the previous year; It vastly beat Reuters’ average forecast for growth of 2.8%, slowing from a 2.9% increase in the previous month.
Industrial production also missed expectations, rising 4.8% year-on-year in November, its weakest growth since August 2024, compared to forecasts for a 5% increase.
China continues to recover from the long-term collapse of its real estate sector. Investment in fixed assets, including real estate, contracted by 2.6% in the January-November period compared to the previous year; That’s sharper than the 2.3% decline economists had predicted.
New home prices also continued to fall in November; This shows that the weakness in China’s real estate sector continues.
new house prices Down 1.2% in tier 1 cities Including Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, second-hand home prices fell 5.8% compared to the previous year.
Earlier this month, China’s finance ministry He said it was planned issuance of ultra-long-term special government bonds next year to finance the construction of key projects and new infrastructure projects.
The country is struggling with deflationary pressures and policymakers have vowed to “strongly support the implementation of specific actions to increase consumption.”
But an interim trade deal with Washington that would suspend prohibitive tariffs on Chinese exports could boost shipments to the United States and help the country meet its economic growth target of “around 5 percent” for 2025.
— CNBC’s Anniek Bao contributed to this report.
