The central bank sets the tone for the second half of the year: “timely adjustment” of policies to protect the expansion of domestic demand, and the toolbox reserves sufficient resources

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on August 1, the People's Bank of China held a working meeting for the second half of 2026. In the second half of 2026, the People's Bank of China system should carefully study and understand the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech at the Politburo meeting of the Central Committee on the current economic situation and doing well in the second half of the year, effectively unify ideas and actions into the Party Central Committee's analysis, judgment and decision deployment on the economic situation, adhere to the general tone of steady progress, fully implement the new development concept, implement moderately loose monetary policies, and give full play to the effectiveness of various stock policies. Plan and introduce practical incremental policies in a timely manner, increase countercyclical adjustment efforts, increase countercyclical adjustment efforts, and strengthen efforts to expand domestic demand and optimize supply Actually Do a good job in all key tasks in the second half of the year to promote the continuous development of the economy in a new, positive and positive direction.

The original text is as follows:

On August 1, the People's Bank of China held a working meeting for the second half of 2026. Guided by Xi Jinping's ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, the conference thoroughly implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, summarized the work since 2026, analyzed the current situation, and deployed the next phase of work. Pan Gongsheng, Party Secretary and Governor of the People's Bank of China, attended the meeting and delivered a speech. Zhu Hexin, Qu Jishan, Xuan Changneng, Lu Lei, Tao Ling, and Zou Lan attended the meeting.

The conference believes that since 2026, in the face of the impact and challenges of changes in the domestic and foreign situation, the People's Bank of China has earnestly implemented the Central Economic Work Conference, the Politburo Central Committee meeting and government work report arrangements, introduced a series of monetary and financial policies to support stable economic growth, high-quality development and the smooth operation of financial markets, continue to deepen financial reform and a high level of openness, effectively maintain financial stability and national financial security, and carry out in-depth study and education to establish and implement a correct view of political achievements.

The first is to continue to implement a moderately loose monetary policy. Various monetary policy instruments such as reverse repurchases, medium-term loan facilitation, and treasury bond trading are comprehensively used to provide short-, medium-, and long-term liquidity, maintain abundant liquidity, and guide financial institutions to strongly support the real economy's effective financing needs. Improve the short-term interest rate regulation mechanism, increase the variety of overnight reverse repurchase operations, and narrow the interest rate range for temporary overnight positive/reverse repurchase operations. Strengthen the implementation and supervision of interest rate policies, urge financial institutions to specify comprehensive loan financing costs, and maintain a low level of comprehensive social financing costs. Do a good job in market communication and anticipation guidance. At the end of June, the scale of social financing increased by 7.4% year on year, and the broad money supply increased by 8.0% year on year. Insist that the market plays a decisive role in the formation of exchange rates, and the RMB exchange rate fluctuates in both directions.

The second is improving the quality and efficiency of key areas and weak links in financial services. Strengthen the coordination and policy implementation of the “Five Major Articles” in finance, and study and optimize statistics and evaluation systems for technology finance, green finance, etc. Focus on key areas such as expanding domestic demand, scientific and technological innovation, and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, lowering interest rates on structural monetary policy instruments, increasing reloans for scientific and technological innovation and technological transformation, increasing small reloan amounts to support agriculture and setting up separate reloans for private enterprises, merger and establish risk sharing tools for scientific and technological innovation and private enterprise bonds, and expand support areas for service consumption and pension refinancing and carbon emission reduction support tools. At the end of June, financial “Five Big Article” loans increased 11% year-on-year, significantly higher than the overall loan growth rate. The “Technology Board” of the bond market has issued a total of more than 2.8 trillion yuan in science and technology innovation bonds. Standardize the electronic certificate business for accounts receivable, strengthen the supervision of supply chain information service platforms, and promote the resolution of corporate account arrears.

Third, financial risks in key areas are continuously mitigated. Financial support and financing platforms have achieved remarkable results in mitigating debt risks. The financial market is performing well. Monitor and evaluate the operation of the bond market from a macroprudential perspective, and strengthen bond market supervision and enforcement. Play the role of two monetary policy tools to support the capital market to stabilize and enhance confidence in the capital market. Risks in key regions and key institutions are resolved in an orderly manner. Macroprudential and financial stability guarantee systems have been continuously improved. Take the lead in regulating online marketing practices for financial products.

Fourth, a high level of financial openness is progressing steadily. Optimize corporate overseas loans, bank overseas loans, and RMB cross-border interbank financing policies. Create repurchase tools for overseas central banks. Facilitate high-quality international entities to issue panda bonds in China. In the first half of the year, panda bonds were issued more than 160 billion yuan. Positive progress has been made in the construction of the RMB cross-border payment system. Support the construction of international financial centers in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Support the construction of new land and sea corridors in Xiong'an New Area and the western region. Deepen foreign exchange facilitation reforms and expand the scope of pilot high-level opening-up of cross-border trade. Improve corporate exchange rate risk management services.

Fifth, global financial governance cooperation continues to deepen. Adhere to the diplomatic leadership of the head of state, promote multilateral and bilateral international financial cooperation, support the role of the Shanghai Center of the International Monetary Fund, successfully co-host a high-level conference with the Bank for International Settlements, and guide regional financial cooperation such as the Chiang Mai Initiative.

The sixth is the consolidation and improvement of financial management and service standards. The revision of the People's Bank of China law has made a major breakthrough. The People's Bank of China's “15th Five-Year Plan” was issued. Strengthen enforcement and inspection of financial statistics. Regularly optimize payment services over a long period of time, and deepen the precise management of the “capital chain” involving fraud and gambling. Develop artificial intelligence financial applications to enhance financial network security and data security governance capabilities. Optimize cash supply guarantees and deepen the comprehensive management of counterfeit money. Actively implement a one-time credit repair policy. Firmly carry out tasks such as money laundering risk assessments for financial institutions, filing information on beneficial owners, and combating illegal crimes of money laundering.

The seventh is to advance comprehensively from strictly governing the Party to going deeper. Thoroughly study and implement Xi Jinping's ideology of party building, and strictly implement the “first topic” system. Studying and education to establish and implement a correct view of political performance has been carried out in a solid manner and results have been achieved, and the construction of the cadre talent team and organization has progressed steadily. Internal management has been further standardized, and the quality and efficiency of work such as internal supervision, trade unions, the Communist Youth League, retired cadres, logistics support, centralized procurement, and security continues to improve. Regularly promote inspection and rectification by the central government in a long-term manner, unswervingly fight discipline and corruption, consolidate and expand the achievements of spiritual study and education in thorough implementation of the Eight Regulations of the Central Committee, and normalize warning education.

The conference emphasized that the People's Bank of China system should carefully study and understand the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech at the Politburo meeting of the Central Committee on the current economic situation and doing a good job in the second half of the year, effectively unify ideas and actions into the Party Central Committee's analysis, judgment, decisions and deployment on the economic situation, adhere to the general tone of steady, accurate and comprehensive implementation of new development concepts, implement moderately loose monetary policies, give full play to the effectiveness of various stock policies, plan and introduce practical incremental policies in a timely manner, increase countercyclical adjustment efforts, increase countercyclical adjustment efforts, strengthen efforts to expand domestic demand and optimize supply Key tasks in the second half of the year will promote the continued development of the economy in a new, positive and positive direction.

The first is to persevere in promoting comprehensive and strict government of the Party. Strengthen political construction and theoretical weapons, thoroughly study and implement Xi Jinping's ideology of party building, and strictly implement the “first topic” system and the system for requesting instructions and reports. Consolidate and expand the achievements of learning and education in establishing and implementing a correct view of political performance, and the results of central inspection, audit and rectification. Accelerate the construction of an excellent cadre and talent team, and establish a loyal, clean, responsible, diligent, pragmatic and professional selection and employment orientation. Continue to strengthen discipline and fight corruption, and maintain a high-pressure stance on the “Four Winds” and corruption issues.

Second, continue to implement a moderately loose monetary policy. Use monetary policy tools comprehensively and adjust in due course to maintain abundant liquidity, guide financial institutions to enhance the balance of credit investment, and match the scale of social financing and the growth in money supply with the expected goals of economic growth and overall price levels. Standardize the operation of the credit market, promote the reduction of intermediate financing costs, and maintain the operation of comprehensive social financing at a low level. Continue to do a good job in implementing and supervising interest rate policies. Adhere to the decisive role of the market in exchange rate formation, maintain exchange rate flexibility, strengthen the guidance of expectations, and maintain the basic stability of the RMB exchange rate at a reasonable equilibrium level. Continuously evaluate and improve the monetary policy framework.

The third is to improve the quality and efficiency of financial services in the real economy. Implement the financial “Five Major Articles” policy framework, and continuously improve the financial statistics system and evaluation system. Make good use of various structural monetary policy tools. Strengthen collaboration with local finance and industry departments to expand the effectiveness of policy incentives. Build a high-quality “technology board” for the bond market. Steadily implement technological innovation and private enterprise bond risk sharing tools, and explore open information sharing and integrated application of data in the field of technology finance. Improve credit enhancement systems for private small and medium-sized enterprises, and enhance the financial service capabilities of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Fourth, accelerate the construction and development of financial markets. Strengthen institutional mechanism building, improve the financial market macroprudential management index system, explore and enrich the financial market macroprudential management toolbox, improve the financial infrastructure system rules and governance system, and strengthen the monitoring and evaluation of financial market operations. Strengthen financial market law enforcement, crack down on illegal acts, and maintain financial market order. Steadily promote a high level of openness in financial markets, optimize the two-way opening mechanism for bond access, promote domestic and foreign infrastructure cooperation in an orderly manner, and enrich liquidity management and risk hedging tools.

The fifth is to steadily mitigate risks in key areas. Continue to do a good job of financial support to resolve debt risks on local government financing platforms, and promote the market-based transformation of financing platforms. Strengthen macroprudential management and financial stability guarantee systems, enrich the macroprudential and financial stability management toolbox, correct and block the accumulation of financial market risks, and maintain the stable and healthy development of the financial market. Give full play to the role of two monetary policy tools to support capital markets. Improve the efficiency of deposit insurance in carrying out duties. Promote risk mitigation in key regions and key institutions in a steady and orderly manner. Strengthen the fight against illegal financial activities.

The sixth is to steadily deepen financial reform and opening-up to the outside world. Actively and steadily carry out currency swaps and local currency settlement cooperation between central banks. Support and facilitate more overseas institutions to participate in the issuance of panda bonds. Coordinate the development of the offshore RMB market, support Shanghai to enhance its cross-border financial and offshore financial service capabilities, and consolidate Hong Kong's position as an offshore RMB business hub. Deepen reforms to facilitate cross-border trade and investment and financing. Promote the construction of a RMB cross-border payment system, increase international cooperation for cross-border payments, and improve the digital yuan cross-border infrastructure.

The seventh is to actively push forward the reform of global financial governance. Coordinate multilateral and bilateral monetary and financial cooperation. Deepen cooperation with international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and multilateral development agencies. Support the International Monetary Fund's Shanghai Center to give full play to radiation effects in the Asia-Pacific region.

Eighth is to further improve the level of financial management and services. Promote key legislative amendments. Develop a financial statistics system and standard framework design, and continue to monitor statistics in key areas. Improve the quality and efficiency of cash, payment, treasury, and credit reporting services, further optimize county financial services, and strengthen guidance and operation monitoring for financial institutions to carry out county financial services. Deepen technology management and innovative application, and improve the financial industry's cybersecurity management system. Do a good job in the fifth round of anti-money laundering international assessments. Coordinate safety management, do a good job in flood control and disaster prevention, and ensure the safe and smooth operation of important information systems and financial infrastructure.

The conference pointed out that 2026 is the beginning of the “15th Five-Year Plan”. The People's Bank of China should adhere to Xi Jinping's ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, be guided by firm confidence and rise to difficulties, and implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council with a higher standard of enthusiasm, more diligent, pragmatic, professional and responsible work style, and contribute to achieving a good start to the “15th Five-Year Plan”.

The conference was held in video format. Members of the leadership team of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, comrades in charge of various departments, branches, and affiliated units of the People's Bank of China, and comrades in charge of the Discipline Inspection and Monitoring Team attended the meeting. Relevant comrades from the Office of the Central Financial Commission, the Office of the Central Financial Services Commission, the General Office of the State Council, and the Audit Office were invited to attend the meeting.

This article was selected from the official website of the “People's Bank of China”, Zhitong Finance Editor: Chen Qiuda