People's Bank of China: interest rates, the yuan and credit statistics
The People's Bank of China (PBC) is China's central bank. It sets monetary policy, publishes the monthly Loan Prime Rate and daily yuan central parity rates through the National Interbank Funding Center and the China Foreign Exchange Trade System, and releases money supply, credit and total social financing statistics and a quarterly monetary policy report.
What it publishes
- Monthly Loan Prime Rate (one-year and five-year-and-above) notices.
- Daily central parity rates of the yuan against major currencies.
- Open market operations, including the seven-day reverse repo rate, and reserve requirement changes.
- Money supply (M0, M1, M2), new loans and aggregate financing to the real economy.
- Monetary policy reports and financial stability reports.
Key datasets
- Loan Prime Rate notices
Every monthly LPR announcement.
- Yuan central parity announcements
Daily central parity rates against major currencies.
APIs and downloads
- PBC websiteStatistics section with monthly money and credit tables in Excel; the English site gives summaries.
When it publishes
The LPR is published on the morning of the 20th of each month, moved to the next working day if the 20th is a holiday. The central parity is published each business morning. Money and credit data come out around the middle of the following month.
How to use it to check a claim
- Distinguish the LPR (a bank reference rate) from the PBC's seven-day reverse repo rate (its policy rate).
- Use the five-year LPR for mortgage-rate claims and the one-year LPR for most other loans.
- For the exchange rate, say whether a figure is the central parity, the onshore spot rate or the offshore rate.
Common mistakes
- The English site lags or omits some Chinese notices.
- The PBC's English pages returned 403 to automated checks on 13 October 2026; open them in a browser.
Who sets China's Loan Prime Rate?
A panel of banks submits quotes, and the National Interbank Funding Center publishes the rate under PBC authority on the 20th of each month.
Questions answered using this source
Links checked 14 October 2026. This page describes what the source publishes and gives no verdict on any claim.