Money in China today
The People's Bank of China's interest rate, the latest inflation figure and what the Chinese yuan is worth today, with what they mean for your savings and loans.
Loan prime rate (1-year) decided 20 October 2026 (one-year loan prime rate). Inflation from the National Bureau of Statistics.
What is happening
China's one-year loan prime rate is 3.0% and the five-year rate, the benchmark for mortgages, is 3.5%. Both were left unchanged in October 2026 for the 17th month in a row. Consumer prices were 0.9% higher in September than a year earlier.
What it means for you
- Savers: interest rates are above inflation, so savings accounts, money market funds and government bills that pay close to the central bank rate can grow faster than prices. Compare what you earn after tax with the 0.9% inflation rate.
- Borrowers: bank lending rates and variable-rate loans follow the central bank.
- Prices: inflation of 0.9% means something that cost 1,000 a year ago costs about 1,009 now.
Tools and guides for China
Understanding fund risk ratings in China: R1 to R5
Every fund and wealth product sold in China carries a risk rating, and every investor gets one too. What R1 to R5 means and how to use it to choose well.
China mortgages: equal principal vs equal installment repayments
When you take a mortgage in China you choose between two repayment methods. How each works, which costs less and how provident fund loans fit in.
Your personal credit report in China: how to check and protect it
Banks check your credit report before lending to you, especially for a mortgage. What the PBOC report contains, how to get it and how to keep it clean.
China's annual individual income tax reconciliation: a simple guide
Every spring, China's taxpayers settle the previous year's income tax. Who needs to file, when, how to claim missed deductions and how to get a refund.
Yu'e Bao and WeChat wealth: how China's app-based money funds work
Hundreds of millions of people in China park spare cash in money market funds inside Alipay and WeChat. How they work, how safe they are and how to use them.
China's social insurance explained: the "five insurances and one fund"
Pension, medical, unemployment, work injury and maternity insurance, plus the housing fund: what each does, who pays and what it means for your payslip.
Sources
Exchange rates update automatically through the day. Interest rates and inflation are updated after each central bank decision and monthly release.