Cailian Press, October 19 — The 2026 Financial Street Forum Annual Conference opened this afternoon, with the theme "Openness, Cooperation, and Inclusiveness: Building a New Ecosystem for Global Financial Development." At the opening ceremony, Governor of the People's Bank of China Pan Gongsheng announced a series of policy measures that the People's Bank of China is about to introduce.
Pan Gongsheng: A liquidity support tool for large-scale redemptions by non-bank institutions will be introduced.
Pan Gongsheng stated that, in collaboration with the Financial Regulatory Administration and the China Securities Regulatory Commission, they will launch a liquidity support tool for large-scale redemptions by non-bank institutions. The purpose of this tool is to establish a mechanism for stabilizing the bond market and to serve as a new instrument within the People's Bank of China's macroprudential framework. The tool strikes a balance between mitigating systemic risks and moral hazard in the financial market system; it will be activated under specific circumstances—namely, when asset management institutions face herd‑like liquidity risks or when the bond market experiences a negative feedback loop of redemption–sell‑off. Operations conducted through this tool must meet macroprudential requirements and be backed by high‑quality collateral, thereby preventing distortions in market pricing, avoiding the illusion of implicit guarantees, and upholding market discipline. The institutions eligible for this tool include bank wealth‑management subsidiaries, public fund managers, as well as their respective parent banks and securities‑industry parent companies.
Pan Gongsheng: Accelerate the development of a science and technology finance service system that aligns with the core functions and international positioning of an international science and technology innovation center.
Pan Gongsheng stated that, in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Technology and nine other departments, they will issue the "Guiding Opinions on Financial Support for Building International Centers of Scientific and Technological Innovation in Beijing (Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei), Shanghai (Yangtze River Delta), and the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area." The People's Bank of China will accelerate the development of a science-and‑technology finance service system that aligns with the core functions and international positioning of these centers, enhance the level of end-to-end, diversified financial supply, guide financial institutions to strengthen their professional service capabilities, and bolster information sharing, mutual recognition of standards, and infrastructure connectivity within the regions. Additionally, it will promote greater investment and pilot programs in relevant areas for policies such as re-lending, the "science-and‑technology board" of the bond market, and cross-border investment and financing, thereby helping to foster a high‑level science-and‑technology finance ecosystem.
Pan Gongsheng: Positive progress has been made in the transformation and improvement of China's monetary policy framework.
Pan Gongsheng stated that over the past two-plus years, the People's Bank of China has undertaken substantial efforts and achieved significant progress. It has clarified the policy‑rate status of the 7‑day reverse repo rate in the open market, introduced an overnight operation variety, conducted treasury bond transactions in the open market, further enriched the monetary policy toolkit, and made the market‑based interest‑rate adjustment mechanism more transparent. At the same time, it has continuously strengthened the implementation and oversight of interest‑rate policies, standardized deposit and loan pricing practices, enhanced banks' pricing capabilities, optimized the structure and components of structural monetary policy tools, and bolstered coordination with fiscal and industrial policies, while placing greater emphasis on effective market communication and expectation management.
Pan Gongsheng: The pilot program further facilitates overseas financial institutions in conducting RMB buying and selling operations in the onshore foreign exchange market.
Pan Gongsheng stated that the pilot program will further facilitate overseas financial institutions in conducting RMB buying and selling operations in the onshore foreign exchange market. The People's Bank of China plans to allow eight Chinese- and foreign-funded RMB offshore clearing banks, in line with international financial market practices and trading conventions, to engage in proprietary trading in the onshore interbank foreign exchange market, thereby enabling overseas institutions to participate more deeply in the onshore foreign exchange market and promoting the integrated development of onshore and offshore markets. Going forward, based on the outcomes of the pilot, the degree of openness in the foreign exchange market will be further enhanced.
Pan Gongsheng: Further optimize the short-term interest rate regulation mechanism
Pan Gongsheng stated that the mechanism for regulating short-term interest rates will be further optimized. The interbank overnight repurchase rate, commonly referred to as DR001, as the most active and benchmark‑setting rate in the money market, can sensitively reflect short-term liquidity conditions and has become increasingly stable in recent years. Based on the current situation, the interbank overnight repurchase rate has effectively become the target rate for the central bank's monetary policy operations; however, at the same time, the primary tenors of the central bank's open market operations and its key policy rates remain at seven days, creating a mismatch between the two. To further enhance the precision of interest rate management, the People's Bank of China will study, when appropriate, shifting the tenor of its main open market operation instruments to overnight, thereby making the open market overnight repurchase rate the corresponding key policy rate.
Pan Gongsheng: Promote the reform of the benchmark for loan interest rate pricing, shifting from a relatively singular reliance on the Loan Prime Rate (LPR) to a more diversified set of pricing benchmarks.
Pan Gongsheng stated that efforts are being made to advance the reform of loan interest rate pricing benchmarks, shifting from a relatively singular reliance on the Loan Prime Rate (LPR) to a more diversified set of benchmarks. In the future, as these diversified benchmarks continue to improve, financially strong enterprises will be able to negotiate with financial institutions and independently choose either the bank overnight repurchase rate or the LPR as the benchmark for floating-rate loans. Meanwhile, the LPR can continue to serve as the benchmark for small‑business and personal loans. For bonds and financial derivatives, the bank overnight repurchase rate could also be considered as an option. The People's Bank of China will issue policy guidance at an appropriate time to help financial institutions carry out related work. At the same time, it will persist in reforming and refining the LPR quotation mechanism to enhance the quality of quotations.
Pan Gongsheng: Phase out the benchmark deposit and loan rates and replace them with market-based interest rate indicators.
Pan Gongsheng stated that the benchmark interest rates for deposits and loans will be phased out. As interest-rate marketization reforms advance, these benchmark rates are gradually being replaced by market-based pricing benchmarks. Bank loan rates already have multiple pricing benchmarks, including the Loan Market Quote Rate and the interbank overnight repurchase rate. Starting from the first quarter of this year, the People's Bank of China has publicly released average deposit rates for various maturities as a reference for banks' deposit pricing. Going forward, the People's Bank of China will replace the interest‑calculation bases in these areas with market‑based interest-rate indicators, thereby phasing out the benchmark interest rates for deposits and loans at financial institutions.
Edited by melody