China’s PBOC Vows More Support For Innovation And Consumption

China’s central bank said it will step up financial support for technology innovation and consumption stimulation as part of a continued effort to revive economic growth.

The People’s Bank of China also pledged to explore institutional arrangements to safeguard the capital market — potentially signaling more regular use of two new tools to provide liquidity to the stock market. It reiterated a pledge to lower interest rates and the reserve requirement ratio for banks “at an appropriate time” to promote growth, according to a statement posted on the central bank’s website on Saturday that summarized its annual work meeting. 

China’s economy has shown signs of recovery after officials rolled out a broad package of stimulus since late September, but the growth outlook remains challenging due to a possible second trade war with the US. Top leaders have signaled a more supportive stance regarding liquidity in 2025 in order to ensure banks have enough money to lend.

Separately, the country’s foreign exchange regulator said on Saturday that it will encourage “high-quality foreign capital” to invest in China’s domestic technology sector, according to a statement posted on the website of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. 

The government will optimize the management of overseas-traded Chinese companies’ funds and continuously improve the supervision policies governing multinational corporations’ capital, SAFE added.