Supporting stable economic growth and high-quality development—

　　Financial policy "package" continues to gain traction and show results

　　Cutting the reserve requirement ratio and policy interest rates, guiding the reduction of existing mortgage rates, and promoting the entry of medium- and long-term funds into the market... Recently, financial regulatory authorities have introduced several major financial policies, sending a strong signal of financial support for stable economic growth and high-quality development. With the support of a series of existing and incremental policies, social expectations have improved significantly, and market confidence has been notably enhanced.

　　Since the beginning of this year, China's economy has been generally stable and making progress while maintaining stability, while also encountering some new situations and problems. The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee meeting held on September 26 emphasized the need to focus on key areas, take proactive actions, effectively implement existing policies, intensify the introduction of incremental policies, and further improve the pertinence and effectiveness of policy measures.

　　On September 27, the People's Bank of China announced that, effective from September 27, it would cut the reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions by 0.5 percentage points (excluding financial institutions that have already implemented a 5% reserve requirement ratio). After this cut, the weighted average reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions is approximately 6.6%. On the same day, the People's Bank of China issued an announcement adjusting the 7-day reverse repurchase operation rate from 1.7% to 1.5%, a reduction of 20 basis points.

　　"China adheres to a supportive monetary policy stance, increases the intensity of monetary policy regulation, improves the precision of monetary policy regulation, and creates a favorable monetary and financial environment for stable economic growth and high-quality development," said Dong Ximiao, chief researcher of Zhaolian. He noted that the People's Bank of China is working on both quantity and price. In terms of quantity, this is the second RRR cut this year, expected to release about 1 trillion yuan of long-term liquidity; in terms of price, the policy interest rate has been cut by 20 basis points, the largest reduction in nearly four years.

　　"The RRR and interest rate cuts are substantial and timely," said Ye Yindan, a researcher at the Bank of China Research Institute. She believes that the RRR cut will provide long-term low-cost funds to the banking system, enhancing banks' motivation and sustainability in serving the real economy. Under the market-based interest rate regulation mechanism, the reduction in policy interest rates will drive down various market benchmark interest rates, promote lower financing costs for enterprises, boost domestic demand, and unleash consumption and investment potential.

　　The increased intensity of monetary policy implementation provides strong support for credit growth. "The People's Bank of China's 0.5 percentage point RRR cut will further release more long-term funds and optimize the structure of bank funds. Next, our bank will focus on serving the real economy, around the 'five major articles', accurately grasp the direction of business development, and continue to increase funding support for key areas and weak links," said a relevant person in charge of the Bank of Communications Ningbo Branch.

　　Guiding banks to lower existing mortgage rates, unifying the minimum down payment ratio for mortgages, extending the validity of two real estate financial policy documents, optimizing the policy for re-lending for affordable housing, and supporting the acquisition of existing land from real estate enterprises... Recently, financial regulatory authorities announced five financial policies related to the real estate market, aimed at promoting the stable and healthy development of the real estate market.

　　Efforts are being made on both the supply and demand sides to improve real estate financial policies. From the demand side, the People's Bank of China is guiding commercial banks to reduce existing mortgage rates to near the level of newly issued loan rates, with an expected average reduction of about 0.5 percentage points; the minimum down payment ratio for first and second homes nationwide is unified at 15%, to better support rigid and diverse improved housing needs of resident families.

　　Mr. Zhang, who lives in Qingdao, Shandong Province, has recently been looking at improved housing. "The current house is a bit small, and I want to buy a three-bedroom apartment near my child's school," said Mr. Zhang. The policies of lowering existing mortgage rates and reducing the minimum down payment ratio are great benefits for their family.

　　Data shows that by the end of June, the balance of personal housing loans in China was 37.79 trillion yuan. The reduction in existing mortgage rates will effectively ease the monthly payment burden for families that have already purchased homes, expected to benefit 50 million households and 150 million people, reducing household interest expenses by about 150 billion yuan per year on average.

　　"Lowering existing mortgage rates will reduce borrowers' mortgage interest expenses, ease their repayment pressure, enable them to increase other consumption expenditures, and reduce early repayment behavior," said Dong Ximiao.

　　Financial regulatory authorities have also introduced many policy measures favorable to the supply side. For example, the People's Bank of China and the National Financial Regulatory Administration decided to extend temporary policies such as operating property loans until the end of 2026, which will help further revitalize existing assets of real estate enterprises, improve their cash flow, and promote a virtuous cycle between finance and real estate.

　　As early as April, the Shanghai Head Office of the People's Bank of China and the Shanghai Regulatory Bureau of the National Financial Regulatory Administration organized a centralized signing meeting for operating property loans in Shanghai, with 8 major commercial banks and 12 real estate enterprises participating, signing loan agreements worth 14.6 billion yuan. The extension of the operating property loan policy will continue to strongly support financing for private real estate enterprises.

　　"This round of real estate financial policy intensification has not changed the consistent policy orientation, and the transition between old and new policies is steady and orderly," said Wen Bin, chief economist of China Minsheng Bank. The increased support of financial policies conveys a clear signal of stabilizing the real estate market.