FILE: Beijing, China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of facade of People's Bank of China

FILE: Guangdong Province, south China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
2. Various of bank clerks talking with clients
3. Various of bank clerk sorting Chinese yuan banknotes

FILE: China - 2021 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. Bank clerks of China Construction Bank serving customers
5. Various of bank clerk counting RMB, cash-counting machine working
6. Various of bank counters for corporate banking, staff members working

FILE: Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, east China - Date Unknown (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
7. Various of bank clerks serving customers in bank hall

FILE: China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Clients at bank counters

China's one-year loan prime rate (LPR), a market-based benchmark lending rate, came in at 3.45 percent Monday, 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 4.2 percent, said the National Interbank Funding Center on Monday.

The monthly data is a pricing reference rate for banks and is based on rates of the central bank's open market operations, especially the medium-term lending facility rate.

Most new and outstanding loans in the country are based on the one-year LPR, while the five-year interest rates affect mortgage pricing.

Industry insiders think there is still room to reduce rates this year, depending on the comprehensive performance of domestic real economy financing demand, real estate recovery, and bank net interest margin pressure.