1. Broad money rose by 7 percent

At end-March, broad money supply (M2) stood at RMB326.06 trillion, rising by 7 percent year on year. Narrow money supply (M1), at RMB113.49 trillion, grew by 1.6 percent year on year. The amount of currency in circulation (M0) was RMB13.07 trillion, an increase of 11.5 percent year on year. The first quarter saw a net money injection of RMB249.8 billion.

2. RMB loans grew by RMB9.78 trillion in Q1

At end-March, outstanding RMB and foreign currency loans totaled RMB269.26 trillion, up 6.9 percent year on year. Outstanding RMB loans stood at RMB265.41 trillion, registering a year-on-year growth of 7.4 percent.

In the first quarter, RMB loans expanded by RMB9.78 trillion. By sector, household loans increased by RMB1.04 trillion, with short-term loans and medium and long-term (MLT) loans rising by RMB160.3 billion and RMB883.2 billion, respectively; loans to enterprises and public institutions grew by RMB8.66 trillion, with short-term loans and MLT loans increasing by RMB3.51 trillion and RMB5.58 trillion, respectively, and bill financing decreasing by RMB544.2 billion; and loans to non-banking financial institutions fell by RMB86.6 billion.

At end-March, outstanding foreign currency loans stood at USD535.7 billion, down 20.1 percent year on year. The first quarter saw a slide of USD6.4 billion in foreign currency loans.

3. RMB deposits increased by RMB12.99 trillion in Q1

At end-March, the outstanding amount of RMB and foreign currency deposits was RMB322.11 trillion, up 6.9 percent year on year. RMB deposits recorded an outstanding amount of RMB315.22 trillion, rising by 6.7 percent year on year.

In the first quarter, RMB deposits increased by RMB12.99 trillion. Specifically, household deposits, deposits of non-financial enterprises, fiscal deposits and deposits of non-banking financial institutions rose by RMB9.22 trillion, RMB1.74 trillion, RMB819 billion and RMB309 billion, respectively.

At end-March, the outstanding amount of foreign currency deposits was USD959.8 billion, up 15.3 percent year on year. The first quarter saw an increase of USD106.9 billion in foreign currency deposits.

4. The monthly weighted average interest rates for interbank RMB lending and bond pledged repos in March stood at 1.85 percent and 1.87 percent respectively

In the first quarter, lending, cash bond and repo transactions in the interbank RMB market totaled RMB431.39 trillion, with the daily average declining by 17.7 percent year on year to RMB7.31 trillion. Specifically, the average daily turnovers of interbank lending, cash bond trading and pledged repo trading dropped by 38.8 percent, 4.5 percent and 19.6 percent year on year, respectively.

The monthly weighted average interest rate for interbank lending in March stood at 1.85 percent, down 0.1 percentage points month on month and 0.03 percentage points year on year. The monthly weighted average interest rate for pledged repos was 1.87 percent, down 0.13 percentage points month on month and 0.04 percentage points year on year.

5. Official foreign exchange reserves stood at USD3.24 trillion

At end-March, China’s foreign exchange reserves stood at USD3.24 trillion, and the USD/CNY exchange rate was 7.1782.

6. RMB cross-border settlement under the current account reached RMB3.96 trillion and RMB cross-border settlement of direct investment posted RMB2.09 trillion in Q1

In the first quarter, RMB cross-border settlement under the current account reached RMB3.96 trillion, including RMB3.12 trillion in settlement of trade in goods and RMB0.84 trillion in settlement of trade in services and other current account items. RMB cross-border settlement of direct investment amounted to RMB2.09 trillion, of which ODI and FDI posted RMB0.76 trillion and RMB1.33 trillion, respectively.

Notes:

1. Data for the current period are preliminary.

2. “Loans to enterprises and public institutions” in this report refers to loans to non-financial enterprises, government agencies and organizations.

3. Starting from January 2023, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has incorporated into the coverage of financial statistics three types of non-depository banking financial institutions, i.e., consumer finance companies, wealth management companies, and financial asset investment companies.

4. Starting from January 2025 statistics, the PBOC has revised the measurement of narrow money supply (M1). The revised M1 consists of currency in circulation (M0), corporate demand deposits, personal demand deposits, and customers’ reserve funds with non-bank payment institutions. Adjusted accordingly on a comparable basis, the month-end M1 balances and growth rates of 2024 are shown below.