People's Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng published a signed policy article in Qiushi, the Communist Party's flagship theoretical journal, on Wednesday, signalling a shift away from loan-growth targets toward greater reliance on interest-rate tools to guide policy.
Pan said maintaining past overall credit growth rates would be "difficult and unnecessary" and that slower, higher-quality loan growth is likely to become a "new normal" feature of the Chinese economy.
QUANTITATIVE TARGETS TO BE DE-EMPHASISED
The governor said that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period covering 2026 to 2030 the PBoC will lessen its emphasis on quantitative targets, particularly for lending, and will strengthen interest-rate mechanisms.
OUTSTANDING LOANS EXCEED 280 TRILLION YUAN
China's outstanding loan balance exceeds 280 trillion yuan, or about $41.7 trillion, and Pan said shrinking property and local-government financing sectors were sapping credit demand. Pan noted that direct financing through bonds and equity accounted for roughly one-third of outstanding aggregate social financing at the end of June 2026, and the central bank said bond and equity financing combined made up 47% of the increase in total social financing in 2025, surpassing loans (45%) for the first time.
Pan said slower growth in aggregate financing helps keep the macro leverage ratio broadly stable after years of rapid debt accumulation.