Chinese big lenders lower deposit interest rates

BEIJING, July 25 (Xinhua) — China’s major state-owned commercial banks on Thursday announced reductions in deposit interest rates.
The one-year fixed-term deposit interest rate was cut by 10 basis points to 1.35 percent, according to the official deposit interest rates released by the country’s “big four” commercial banks, namely, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank.
After the reductions, the demand deposit interest rate of the “big four” commercial banks is 0.15 percent. The deposit interest rates with terms of 2, 3 and 5 years are 1.45 percent, 1.75 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.
This was the first deposit interest rate cut for the “big four” commercial banks in 2024, with previous cuts implemented in June, September and December last year.
Analysts believe the move reflects the effective role of the market-based adjustment mechanism of deposit interest rates and will strengthen the market-oriented pricing ability of commercial banks.
It is expected that joint-stock commercial banks will also lower deposit interest rates in the coming days. ■