BEIJING, March 20 -- China's one-year loan prime rate (LPR), a market-based benchmark lending rate, came in at 3.1 percent Thursday, unchanged from the previous month.

The over-five-year LPR, on which many lenders base their mortgage rates, also remained unchanged from the previous reading of 3.6 percent, according to the National Interbank Funding Center.

The LPRs reflect the level of financing costs for households and businesses, with lower rates meaning less burdens on borrowers and stronger support for economic activity.

In 2024, the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, guided the LPR downward while implementing two reductions in both the reserve requirement ratios (RRRs) and policy interest rates to help sustain economic recovery.

Latest data shows that the weighted average interest rate for new business loans fell to about 3.3 percent in February, down 40 basis points from a year earlier, while the rate for new personal mortgages dropped to around 3.1 percent, a decline of 70 basis points.

According to this year's government work report, China has decided to adopt a moderately loose monetary policy.

The central bank will cut RRRs and interest rates when appropriate this year, in line with domestic and international economic and financial conditions, as well as the performance of financial markets, PBOC governor Pan Gongsheng told a press conference early March.

The average RRR for China's financial institutions now stands at 6.6 percent, offering room for further reduction, Pan said, adding that there is also room to lower the interest rates of structural monetary policy tools, which provide liquidity support to commercial banks.