China's one-year loan prime rate (LPR), a market-based benchmark lending rate, came in at 3.1 percent Thursday, remaining unchanged from the previous month, the National Interbank Funding Center announced on Thursday.
The over-five-year LPR, on which many lenders base their mortgage rates, also remained unchanged from the previous reading of 3.6 percent, according to the center.
The LPRs reflect the level of financing costs for households and businesses, with lower rates meaning less burdens on borrowers and stronger support for economic activity.
In 2024, the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, guided the LPR downward while implementing two reductions in both the reserve requirement ratios (RRRs) and policy interest rates to help sustain economic recovery.
The latest official data show that the weighted average interest rate for new business loans fell to about 3.3 percent in February, down 40 basis points from a year earlier, while the rate for new personal mortgages dropped to around 3.1 percent, a decline of 70 basis points.
According to this year's government work report approved at an annual session of the National People's Congress earlier this month, China has decided to adopt a moderately loose monetary policy.
The central bank will cut RRRs and interest rates when appropriate this year, in line with domestic and international economic and financial conditions, as well as the performance of financial markets, PBOC governor Pan Gongsheng told a press conference in early March.
The average RRR for China's financial institutions now stands at 6.6 percent, offering room for further reduction, Pan said, adding that there is also room to lower the interest rates of structural monetary policy tools, which provide liquidity support to commercial banks.
China's loan prime rates remain unchanged
Major economic meetings in China in March have welcomed a host of multinational corporation chiefs and heads of international organizations who have come to discuss China's new policies supporting high-level opening up and the impacts these policies have for international companies looking to do business in China.
The China Development Forum (CDF) 2025, held in Beijing on Sunday and Monday with the theme "Unleashing Development Momentum for Stable Growth of Global Economy", and the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia 2025 Annual Conference with the theme "Asia in the Changing World: Towards a Shared Future", have provided unique opportunities for overseas guests to see what high-level opening up looks like up close.
"I think the early signs from this year now is that the economy is coming back and it's picking up. I think the commitment from the government to essentially do whatever it takes and really also bring in the demand dimension," said Erik Berglof, chief economist of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
"What we feel since a couple of years, China is opening up. China wants to cooperate. China wants to be connected to the world. China wants to contribute to global development, especially when we talk about green and sustainable technology. And for many years we have been cooperating with China," said Oliver Zipse, chairman of the board of management of BMW AG.
Among the slew of policies to support high-level opening up is an action plan to stabilize foreign investment in 2025, issued in February, which outlines 20 measures to advance opening-up in a well-ordered way, improve the level of investment promotion, and increase the efficiency of platforms that support opening-up.
On January 1, the China-Maldives Free Trade Agreement officially took effect, covering over 95 percent of products with zero tariffs. To date, China has signed 23 free trade agreements with 30 countries and regions, accounting for approximately one-third of its total foreign trade volume and expanding its circle of free trade partners.
From February 1, China added 297 goods to the list of items eligible for zero tariffs at the Hainan Free Trade Port. The policy system of zero tariffs and low tax rates in the free trade port is being developed, with the whole island now classified as a separate customs zone.
In a significant move to open its telecommunication sector further, China has approved 13 foreign-invested companies to begin pilot operations in value-added telecom services in Beijing, Shanghai, Hainan and Shenzhen, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced on Feb. 28.
China's first wholly foreign-owned tertiary general hospital opened on Feb. 26 in Tianjin Municipality, marking the latest step in China's expanded opening-up policy for the healthcare sector.
Meanwhile, the high-level opening-up is also propelling the flow of people, goods, and capital.
China has welcomed significantly more foreign visitors since extending the permitted stay for eligible foreign travelers to 240 hours in December last year. According to data from the National Immigration Administration, between December 17, 2024 and March 17, 2025, China's ports saw 8.805 million foreign arrivals, marking a 34.9 percent year-on-year increase.
In the first two months of this year, the volume of cargo transported on freight trains through the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor increased by nearly 60 percent year on year, and the volume of import and export cargo on China-Europe freight trains grew by 15.4 percent.
The latest data shows that from January to February this year, a total of 7,574 foreign-invested enterprises were newly established in the country, a year-on-year increase of 5.8 percent. The United Kingdom and Germany markedly increased their investment in China, jumping by 87.9 percent and 54.7 percent respectively.
Many multinational enterprises are investing substantially in China, demonstrating their confidence in the market.
In Taicang City in east China's Jiangsu Province, Germany's Huber Ranner Environment Equipment (Taicang) Co., Ltd. has allocated 30 percent of its annual net profit for reinvestment in China, with plans to double its production capacity with the upcoming launch of a new factory building in the second half of the year.
The Legoland Shanghai Resort, the world's largest, is nearing completion and set to officially welcome visitors this summer.
"We are very committed to the China market, apart from Legoland Shanghai Resort, the construction of Legoland Shenzhen Resort has also been progressing positively. Civil engineering works are about to be fully completed within the park and many of the buildings, things like the significant Lego Creative World, has now entered the topping out phase. And once both parks are completed, we expect a lot of synergy effects between both locations, so that we can provide consistently memorable experiences for Chinese families," said Siegfried Boerst, managing director of Legoland China.
China says will steadfastly advance a series of major measures for high-level opening-up this year, including fully applying the negative list for cross-border trade in services, steadily opening up the service sector, expanding trials to open sectors such as telecommunications, medical services and education. China also plans to revise and expand the Catalogue of Industries Encouraged for Foreign Investment to include advanced manufacturing, modern services and high-tech industries.
China accelerates high-level opening-up, unleashing new opportunities for global cooperation in 2025
