Update: China's loan prime rates remain unchanged

BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's one-year loan prime rate (LPR), a market-based benchmark lending rate, came in at 3.1 percent Wednesday, 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.

Last month, China lowered the one-year LPR to 3.1 percent from the previous 3.35 percent, and the over-five-year LPR was lowered to 3.6 percent from 3.85 percent, marking the third LPR reduction this year.

The cut was part of a broader policy push to reduce financing costs, support the recovery of credit demand, and further fuel consumption and investment growth.

China's latest economic indicators showed positive signs of recovery in domestic consumption, investment and the property market, reflecting the effects of counter-cyclical adjustment policies, so there is no urgency to adjust LPR this month, said Zhou Maohua, an analyst with China Everbright Bank.

China's consumption recovered markedly in October. Retail sales of consumer goods expanded 4.8 percent year on year, quickening from the 3.2 percent increase in September, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

The country's property market also displayed positive changes in October, with narrowing price declines, stronger sales and improved market sentiment.

China will intensify counter-cyclical adjustment of its monetary policy and create a sound monetary and financial environment for stable economic growth and high-quality development, according to Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People's Bank of China, the central bank.