PBOC Deputy Governor: Inclusive Small-Micro Loans Up 8.3%, New Lending Rate at 3.57%

People's Bank of China (PBOC) Deputy Governor Zou Lan said at a State Council Information Office press conference that the balance of inclusive small and micro enterprise loans grew 8.3% year-on-year at end-June. In early 2026, financial regulators introduced a series of structural monetary policy measures, including a RMB 1 trillion relending facility for private enterprises, the inclusion of private medium-sized enterprises in the relending policy support scope, a 0.25 percentage point cut in structural tool interest rates, and an additional RMB 500 billion in relending quotas for agricultural support and small enterprise lending. These measures are designed to support key economic areas and weak links.

Since 2026, new lending rates have continued their downward trend. At end-June, the rate on new inclusive small and micro enterprise loans stood at 3.57%, down 0.16 percentage points from the same period in 2025. Multiple regions have advanced the disclosure of comprehensive corporate loan financing costs to reduce intermediate financing fees. Since the pilot was launched in May 2025, the PBOC Henan branch has expanded the disclosure initiative from selective pilot implementation to full provincial coverage, improving corporate financing transparency.

Data from the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) show that the balance of inclusive small and micro enterprise loans exceeded RMB 38 trillion at end-Q1 2026. Financial institutions have increased inclusive credit supply, but fund transmission still faces tiering and time-lag issues, with some county-level small and micro borrowers encountering dispersed financing channels, relatively high costs, and longer settlement cycles. A few banks have also engaged in data fabrication during loan issuance, squeezing out and misallocating small and micro financial resources.

The NFRA issued its notice on small enterprise financial services work for 2026, requiring banking institutions to provide credit supply commensurate with economic development and matching the needs of small and micro enterprises, achieving effective improvement in loan quality and reasonable growth in loan volume. Local financial regulators have strengthened coordination and guidance in determining appropriate inclusive small and micro enterprise loan issuance levels. Financial institutions are promoting product innovation; for example, Lucheng Rural Commercial Bank has reinforced its "Sci-Tech Innovation Loan" with intellectual property pledge lending and credit loans to reduce corporate financing costs.

The NFRA also issued a notice on loan renewal work to improve small enterprise financial services, guiding financial institutions to optimize loan services. Jiangsu Bank and Hubei Bank have stepped up no-principal-repayment loan renewals for small and micro enterprises, achieving seamless renewal to address loan fund mismatches and high turnover costs. These measures are intended to ease the difficulty caused by the mismatch between loan maturity and operating cash flow returns for small and micro enterprises.