Major Chinese banks cut deposit rates

China's six largest State-owned banks announced a reduction in deposit interest rates on Thursday by 20 basis points at most, the Beijing News reported.

The three-month, six-month and one-year deposit rates were cut by 10 basis points to 1.05, 1.25 and 1.35 percent, respectively, according to the official deposit interest rates released by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Bank of Communications.

The Postal Savings Bank of China, another State-owned bank, announced cuts to its three-month, six-month and one-year deposit rates by 10 basis points to 1.05, 1.26 and 1.38 percent, respectively.

While the two-year, three-year and five-year deposit rates of the above six banks were cut by 20 basis points to 1.45, 1.75 and 1.80 percent, respectively.

As China on Monday cut the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) and the over-five-year LPR by 10 basis points to 3.35 percent and 3.85 percent, market expectations for a new round of deposit rate cuts have risen, according to a report of Guangzhou Daily.

Zhou Maohua, an analyst at China Everbright Bank, said large banks will take the lead in deposit interest rates reduction, while small and medium-sized banks will follow up to ensure a stable and orderly deposit market. The deposit rate cut is expected to remain relatively modest, he added.