The People's Bank of China (PBOC) will introduce a series of measures to promote more adaptive and effective financial support for consumption in 2026, an official from the central bank announced at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.
As of the end of November 2025, China's outstanding balance of consumer loans, excluding personal housing loans, stood at 21.2 trillion yuan (about 3.04 trillion U.S. dollars).
The PBOC will further expand the scope of its relending facility for service consumption and elderly care, and include the health industry into the program's supported sector at an appropriate time, according to Xie Guangqi, head of the PBOC's Monetary Policy Department.
By offering preferential interest rates through the re-lending facility, the central bank will incentivize and guide financial institutions to increase credit allocation in the consumption sector in accordance with market-oriented and rule-of-law principles, he noted.
"We will continue to guide financial institutions in developing innovative products and services tailored to consumption scenarios, with a focus on supporting industries closely linked to people's wellbeing, such as accommodation and catering, cultural tourism, sports, entertainment, elderly care and childcare, and domestic services," said Xie.
The central bank will work with the National Financial Regulatory Administration to lower the minimum down payment ratio for commercial property mortgages to 30 percent, Zou Lan, deputy governor of the central bank, told the press conference.
"In 2026, the People's Bank of China will continue to implement an appropriately accommodative monetary policy, leveraging the combined effects of policies already in place and new ones, to effectively support a strong start for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030)," Zou said.
The central bank also outlined the following three policy endeavors for the year of 2026: The PBOC will continue to implement the entrepreneurship guarantee loan policy to support employment and entrepreneurship among key groups and help eligible small and micro enterprises hire more jobseekers.
The central bank will support the healthy and stable development of China's capital markets to expand investment channels for residents, and regulate the development of consumer finance to meet residents' diverse and personalized consumption needs.
It will strengthen the coordination of financial and fiscal policies to implement measures such as loan interest subsidies in the consumption sector, thereby reducing financing costs in the sector.
Meanwhile, the National Financial Regulatory Administration on Thursday urged more efforts in 2026 to advance risk mitigation in small and medium-sized financial institutions, and prevent and defuse risks in relevant sectors, including promoting the regular operation of the urban real estate financing coordination mechanism to help establish a new model for real estate development.
The top financial regulator will provide lawful and compliant support for resolving debt risks in financing platforms, and strictly guard against, crack down on, and severely punish illegal financial activities.
It will continuously improve the quality and effectiveness of financial services in supporting the economy and society, the administration said.
It will also increase support for major strategies, key sectors, and weak links, strengthen financial supply to boost consumption and expand investment, improve financial services for science and technology, and enhance financial support in areas important to the people's lives, including emergency relief, elderly care and health, and all-around rural revitalization.
China to introduce measures to promote financial support for consumption in 2026
