February Enterprise Newly Issued Loans Weighted Average Interest Rate Around 3.1%, Down About 20 Basis Points Year-over-Year

Source: Daily Economic News Author: Zhang Shoulin

On March 13, the Daily Economic News reporter learned that in February, the weighted average interest rate for new corporate loans was about 3.1%, down approximately 20 basis points from the same period last year; the weighted average interest rate for new personal housing loans was about 3.1%, down about 10 basis points year-on-year.

Industry experts pointed out that current loan interest rates remain at historically low levels. The central bank continues to implement moderately easing monetary policies this year, introducing multiple structural monetary policy tools at the beginning of the year, including lowering policy rates, expanding the scale and scope of support, and improving policy elements; at the same time, maintaining ample liquidity in the banking system and relatively relaxed social financing conditions.

“Loan Transparency Sheet” Eases Corporate Burden

The continued low level of social financing costs reflects favorable monetary and credit conditions. After several rate cuts in recent years, both corporate and residential loan interest rates are now relatively low.

In recent years, the People’s Bank of China has maintained a supportive monetary policy stance. In September 2024, May 2025, and January 2026, it successively introduced significant monetary policy measures to support stable economic growth.

Industry experts noted that the overall approach of the central bank’s recent monetary policies is to conduct countercyclical and cross-cycle adjustments based on changes in macroeconomic and financial market conditions. Different measures focus on different aspects, actively respond to market concerns, and stabilize market expectations. For example, in September 2024, facing increased downward pressure on the economy, the central bank introduced a series of financial policies including reserve requirement ratio cuts and interest rate reductions. The newly created two capital market support tools played an important role in boosting market confidence. After implementation, the market clearly bottomed out and rebounded. In May 2025, high tariff policies implemented by some countries impacted the global trade order and caused turbulence in international financial markets. The central bank responded promptly with ten monetary and financial measures across three categories, effectively offsetting external shocks from high tariffs. Amid a large-scale financial system, promoting the optimization of credit structure has become a key policy focus. In early 2026, the central bank introduced a series of monetary and financial policies supporting the real economy, further optimizing the structural monetary policy tools in terms of price, scale, and scope.

In the past two years, the central bank has guided commercial banks to clearly disclose the annualized comprehensive financing costs of loans to enterprises, standardizing intermediary and hidden costs of financing. Industry experts said that over the past year since the first pilot of the “Loan Transparency Sheet” (i.e., the “Enterprise Loan Comprehensive Financing Cost List”) was launched in September 2024, it has not only exposed various hidden costs in corporate financing but also made financing costs transparent, truly reducing the burden and costs for enterprises.

Significant Improvement in Manufacturing and Other Sectors’ Expectations

The 2026 government work report explicitly requires continued implementation of moderately easing monetary policies. People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng stated at this year’s National Two Sessions economic-themed press conference that the bank will continue to leverage the synergy of incremental and stock policies, integrating monetary and fiscal policies to enhance macro policy effectiveness and help achieve a good start for the “14th Five-Year Plan.” Industry experts pointed out that China’s monetary policy still has room to maneuver. Creating a favorable social financing environment and supporting stable economic growth are feasible and conditional, but maintaining flexibility in monetary policy is also very necessary given economic uncertainties.

Based on the latest macroeconomic data, manufacturing and construction sectors showed clear expectations of improvement in February 2026. The production and operation activity expectation indices for these two industries increased by 0.6 and 1.1 percentage points respectively from the previous month. As the post-holiday resumption of work and production continues, the overall economy will remain resilient. Industry experts noted that PMI (Purchasing Managers’ Index) during the month of the Spring Festival usually fluctuates significantly, especially this year when the holiday was extended and mostly fell in late February, which inevitably affected enterprise operations. In February, manufacturing PMI fell by 0.3 percentage points from the previous month, indicating a slight slowdown in manufacturing prosperity, but growth momentum in high-tech manufacturing continued to be evident, remaining in expansion territory. The non-manufacturing business activity index also rose by 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, with service sector prosperity rebounding notably. Business activity indices in accommodation, catering, cultural, sports, and entertainment industries all remained above 60%, in a high prosperity zone. In the first two months of 2026, China’s total import and export value reached 7.73 trillion yuan, an 18.3% year-on-year increase, setting a new record for the same period. The export growth exceeded expectations, influenced by seasonal factors, and also reflected China’s strong foreign trade resilience and signs of recovery in the global industrial chain. Overall, enterprises’ confidence in market development has increased.