China kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged for the 17th straight month in October on Tuesday, in line with market expectations, Reuters reported from Shanghai. The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was kept at 3.00%, and the five-year LPR was unchanged at 3.50%. In a Reuters survey of 22 market participants conducted on Monday, all participants predicted no change to either rate. Dow Jones Newswires, reporting the People's Bank of China data via Morningstar, confirmed the same figures — the one-year rate at 3.0% and the five-year at 3.5%, where they have stood since May of last year; Interfax reported the benchmarks remain at record lows and were last cut in May 2025, by 10 basis points.

The steady LPRs suggest policymakers are in no rush to roll out fresh monetary easing after a strong third-quarter GDP outcome, as they focus on reforming the loan pricing framework and improving monetary policy transmission, Reuters reported. China's economy expanded 4.5% year-on-year in the third quarter, topping forecasts and reducing the urgency for Beijing to step up support to meet its annual growth target, with fiscal expansion instead given a bigger role in bolstering growth, Dow Jones reported.

The bigger story is the toolkit itself. China's central bank is considering switching its main policy rate to the overnight reverse repurchase rate, Reuters reported, and PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng said on Monday the bank will issue policy guidance to advance reform of the loan pricing benchmark, shifting lending away from a relatively narrow reliance on the LPR toward a more diversified set of benchmarks. Dow Jones reported Pan said financially stronger companies may eventually be allowed to choose between the interbank overnight repo rate, known as DR001, and the LPR as the pricing benchmark for floating-rate loans, that some institutions have already reached agreements with clients to adopt the overnight rate, and that the LPR can continue to serve small business and personal loans. Huatai Securities told Reuters the tiered design — giving large firms the option while keeping small and micro enterprises and individuals anchored to the LPR — is 'primarily aimed at avoiding a one-off shock to the existing pricing system.' Pan also outlined measures to support the yuan's international use, Dow Jones reported.

Sources: Reuters, 'China leaves loan rates steady for 17th consecutive month', 20 October 2026; Dow Jones Newswires via Morningstar, 'China's Key Lending Rates Kept Unchanged as PBOC Weighs Reforms', 19–20 October 2026; Interfax via LinksGraph, 'China holds one-year loan prime rate unchanged at 3%', 20 October 2026; The Hindu BusinessLine (Reuters), 20 October 2026.