China's central bank left its benchmark lending rates unchanged for the 17th consecutive month in October 2026 on Tuesday, in line with market expectations.

The hold signals that Chinese monetary policymakers are in no hurry to approve further easing after the economy posted strong growth in the third quarter, as they focus on reforming the loan pricing framework and improving the transmission of monetary policy to the economy.

The central bank kept the one-year loan prime rate at 3.00% and the five-year rate at 3.50%.

The central bank is considering switching to the overnight reverse repo rate as its main policy rate, a move aimed at improving monetary policy transmission to support the economy.

People's Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng said the bank will issue policy guidance to advance reform of the loan pricing benchmark, reducing reliance on the loan prime rate alone and broadening the range of benchmarks used to price loans.

Pan added that some financially strong companies may choose the overnight reverse repo rate or the loan prime rate as the benchmark for floating-rate loans, noting that the overnight rate could also be used as an alternative benchmark for pricing bonds and financial derivatives.