BEIJING / RankWire.AI / – China kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged in September, maintaining the one-year loan prime rate at 3.0%. The over-five-year LPR remained at 3.5%, according to the official September 20 fixing. Many lenders use the longer-term rate as a reference for mortgage pricing. The decision left both lending benchmarks at the same levels recorded in August.
China keeps benchmark lending rates steady as September property and credit data remain soft. (AI-generated image)
The People’s Bank of China authorized the National Interbank Funding Center to publish the September loan prime rates. The new readings remain valid until the next scheduled LPR release. China uses the one-year LPR as a key reference for many corporate and household loans. The over-five-year rate plays a central role in pricing mortgages and other longer-term borrowing.
The unchanged rates come alongside new economic data covering lending, housing and consumer prices. China’s consumer price index rose 0.8% from a year earlier in August. Consumer prices also increased 0.4% from July. The figures provide a current picture of price movements as the September lending benchmarks remain unchanged.
Mortgage benchmark remains at 3.5%
China’s housing data continue to show wide differences across cities and market segments. New home prices in first-tier cities rose 0.1% in August from July. Shanghai recorded a 0.4% monthly increase, while Guangzhou and Shenzhen gained 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. Beijing recorded a 0.2% decline during the month.
Real estate investment totaled 4.798 trillion yuan during the first eight months of 2026. That represented a 19.9% decline from the same period a year earlier. Residential investment fell 19.7% to 3.702 trillion yuan. Sales of newly built commercial properties reached 4.747 trillion yuan, down 13.0% year on year.
Property and credit data frame latest LPR setting
Newly built commercial property sales by floor area totaled 498.8 million square meters from January through August. That figure declined 12.1% from a year earlier. Residential sales area fell 13.0%, while residential sales value dropped 13.1%. Individual mortgage loans received by property developers totaled 684.6 billion yuan during the period, a decline of 22.4%.
China’s outstanding social financing reached 464.8 trillion yuan at the end of August, up 7.2% from a year earlier. Renminbi loans to the real economy stood at 278.63 trillion yuan, an annual increase of 5.0%. Government bonds totaled 103.69 trillion yuan within the social financing stock, up 13.5%. Against that backdrop, September’s one-year LPR remains at 3.0%, while the mortgage-linked over-five-year rate stays at 3.5%.