H1 2026 RMB Deposits Up 17.76 Trillion; Household Deposit Growth Slows 3.19 Trillion; Asset Management Scale

In the first half of 2026, major asset classes showed clear divergence: the bond market traded in a range, equity markets offered both structural opportunities and volatility, and household funds continued migrating to asset management products. Against the backdrop of deepening regulatory frameworks under the New Asset Management Rules and tiering of investor risk appetite, various asset management products underwent structural adjustments. The People's Bank of China's Financial Statistics Report for the First Half of 2026 showed that renminbi deposits rose by 17.76 trillion yuan as of end-June, up 8.2% year-on-year. The deposit mix changed: household deposits increased by 7.58 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 3.19 trillion yuan. At the same time, asset management product scale maintained a relatively high growth rate.

According to data released by the People's Bank of China, as of end-June 2026, total assets under management of asset management products reached 124.8 trillion yuan, up 12.7% year-on-year, with an increase of 4.6 trillion yuan from the beginning of the year. In addition, residents' wealth management awareness has upgraded, and asset allocation has evolved from simple savings to diversified portfolios balancing returns and risks.

In terms of incremental funding, as of end-June, funds raised by asset management products from the household sector grew 7.7% year-on-year, with the balance increasing by 1.1 trillion yuan from the beginning of the year. Funds raised from non-financial enterprises increased 24.7% year-on-year, maintaining a growth rate above 20% for four consecutive months, with the balance rising by 331.9 billion yuan from the beginning of the year, an increase of 353.8 billion yuan year-on-year. The accelerated inflow of corporate funds into the asset management market results from both supply and demand: on the demand side, companies have improved their fund management precision, seeking to optimize liability maturity structures and enhance returns on idle funds through asset management products; on the supply side, banks have leveraged wealth management subsidiaries to achieve off-balance-sheet absorption, alleviating pressure on deposit rate competition while meeting corporate comprehensive service needs. While the influx of corporate funds stabilizes the fundraising side, it also raises higher requirements for product liquidity management and differentiated service capabilities.

In terms of fund deployment, as of end-June, asset management products held 38.2 trillion yuan in bonds, up 8.4% year-on-year, with growth rate rising continuously, and the balance increased by 2.2 trillion yuan from the beginning of the year, an increase of 1.1 trillion yuan year-on-year. Holdings of interbank deposits and certificates of deposit totaled 28.5 trillion yuan, up 10% year-on-year. Stock holdings reached 9.5 trillion yuan, up 26.2% year-on-year. Fu Qiaochu noted that the growth of various underlying assets showed divergence, with bond holdings seeing a particularly large year-on-year increase, stocks growing fastest, fixed income remaining the base, and equity allocation accelerating. Liu Xiangdong further analyzed that bonds remain the mainstay of asset allocation, equity asset allocation is warming up but still accounts for a low proportion, and the overall portfolio exhibits a 'heavy on stability, light on growth' characteristic.

Within the 124.8 trillion yuan total, publicly offered funds topped the asset management categories with 42.9 trillion yuan, followed by bank wealth management products at 34.8 trillion yuan, asset management trusts at 25.3 trillion yuan, and insurance, brokerage, fund, futures, and financial asset investment company asset management products totaling 21.8 trillion yuan. As of the end of the second quarter of 2026, the publicly offered fund market had 14,513 funds, with a net asset value of 39.9 trillion yuan, up 5.69% quarter-on-quarter. In June 2026, there were 21,410 wealth management products on sale across the market, an increase of 1,204 from the previous month. Among them, the average performance benchmark for open-end products fell 0.03 percentage points month-on-month to 1.95%, while the average performance benchmark for closed-end products remained flat month-on-month at 2.33%. Fu Qiaochu said that in a low-interest-rate environment, the return space for fixed-income products has narrowed overall, reducing the relative attractiveness of bank wealth management, while publicly offered funds, with their rich strategies and asset allocations, can better adapt to investment needs under different market conditions.

Under the combined effect of regulatory requirements and market demand, many banks have continued to reduce the scale of their proprietary wealth management products. Publicly offered funds lead in scale also due to the advantages of their product system and operating model. In addition, bank wealth management products experience periodic balance sheet fluctuations at quarter-end to align with parent banks' regulatory assessments, causing cyclical volatility in scale data, whereas publicly offered funds operate relatively independently, resulting in more stable scale performance.

Compared with end-2025 data, bank wealth management products stood at 34.5 trillion yuan, publicly offered funds at 40.8 trillion yuan, asset management trusts at 22.8 trillion yuan, and others totaling 21.6 trillion yuan. In the first half of 2026, asset management trusts posted impressive growth, leading all categories with an increase of 2.5 trillion yuan. As early as March 2023, regulators issued a document classifying trust businesses into three major categories and 25 subcategories: asset management trusts, asset service trusts, and charitable trusts, with a three-year transition period for industry rectification. Now that the three-year transition has ended, the industry has moved away from the old model and entered a new phase of compliance and origin-based development. Liu Xiangdong said that the competitive landscape of the asset management industry is shifting from a single license dividend to a dual-driver model of investment research capabilities and channel advantages. Publicly offered funds and bank wealth management products have clear scale advantages, while trusts and insurance asset management seek differentiated breakthroughs in niche areas. Different types of asset management institutions can explore cooperation spaces based on their respective resource endowments to form complementary advantages. Bank wealth management and publicly offered funds can pursue strategic coordination in the fixed-income enhancement field and jointly explore the construction of equity investment capabilities.

In the first half of 2026, the growth rates of asset management product scale, funds raised from non-financial enterprises, and funds flowing back into the banking system through interbank deposits and certificates of deposit were all significantly higher than the growth rates of financial aggregates such as social financing, broad money supply, and financial institution deposits and loans. Yan Xiandong, spokesperson for the People's Bank of China and director of the Survey and Statistics Department, stated at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on July 15 that the central bank will further strengthen monitoring and analysis, reinforce the implementation and supervision of interest rate policies, and strengthen regulation of unreasonable market behaviors that weaken the transmission effect of monetary policy. Liu Xiangdong said that a large amount of funds flowing back into the banking system through interbank deposits and certificates of deposit creates an internal cycle, lengthening the chain of funds entering the real economy and weakening the transmission efficiency of monetary policy. It is necessary to seek a dynamic balance between encouraging industry innovation and preventing the economy from diverging from the real sector, promoting a shift from scale-driven to value-driven development.

The low-interest-rate environment, while driving scale growth, also poses another challenge. Xue Hongyan argued that the low-rate environment has led to overcrowding in the fixed-income track, forcing institutions into a fee rate 'arms race', with the bargaining power of the asset management side under continuous pressure, and some institutions even circumventing net asset value fluctuations. Accompanying the crowded fixed-income track is the accelerated transmission of equity market volatility risk to asset management products. In the first half of the year, the year-on-year growth rate of stock holdings by asset management products was far higher than that of bonds and interbank deposits. The Measures for the Suitability Management of Financial Products and the Detailed Rules for Investor Suitability Management of Publicly Offered Securities Investment Funds have imposed systemic requirements on investor suitability management, promoting seller responsibility and buyer self-reliance.

Entering the second half of 2026, a number of regulations have been intensively implemented, accelerating the industry's shift from a scale competition to a compliance competition. The Administrative Measures for the Information Disclosure of Asset Management Products of Banking and Insurance Institutions, issued by the National Financial Regulatory Administration, will take effect on September 1, unifying the information disclosure requirements for three types of products: asset management trusts, wealth management, and insurance asset management. The Guidelines for the Management of Thematic Investment Styles of Publicly Offered Securities Investment Funds, issued by the Asset Management Association of China, will take effect on December 1, setting a rigid red line that '80% of non-cash assets must be invested in the direction agreed upon in the contract'. The 24-month transition period for the Operational Guidelines for Privately Offered Securities Investment Funds will expire on July 31; funds that have not been rectified will not be allowed to raise new funds or extend their terms. In addition, the National Financial Regulatory Administration has included the formulation of administrative measures for asset management trusts in its 2026 rule-making work plan. The Measures for the Online Marketing of Financial Products, jointly issued by the People's Bank of China and other departments, will take effect on September 30, bringing online marketing of asset management products under regulatory oversight and further reinforcing institutional responsibility.