China to cut lower limit for interest rates on first-home loans

BEIJING -- China's financial authorities on Sunday said that the lower limit for interest rates on first-home purchase loans will be cut.

The lower limit for interest rates on first-home loans at the national level used to be no less than the corresponding tenor of the loan prime rate, and it will be decreased by 20 basis points, according to a circular jointly released by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and China's Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

The move aims to reinforce the principle that "housing is for living in, not for speculation," support better real estate policies based on local realities, and promote the healthy development of the country's property market, according to the PBOC.

Official data shows that the Chinese property industry's value-added output accounted for 6.8 percent of the country's gross domestic product in 2021.