China's central bank unveils relending facility for equipment upgrading

BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank on Wednesday said it had rolled out a special relending facility worth over 200 billion yuan (about 28.13 billion U.S. dollars) to support equipment upgrading and renovation.

The interest rate of the one-year facility stands at 1.75 percent, the People's Bank of China said in an online statement.

Under the new facility, loans at an interest rate of no more than 3.2 percent will be provided to support equipment upgrading in manufacturing, social services, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and self-employed individuals.

The facility will support equipment purchasing and upgrading in 10 sectors, including education, health, charging points, industrial digital transformation, carbon reduction in key fields, and recycling and treatment systems for waste home appliances.

The central bank will provide low-cost funds for 21 financial institutions to guide them in issuing loans to support demand from companies in upgrading equipment.

For eligible loans issued between Sept. 1, 2022 and Dec. 31, 2022, the central bank will provide 100 percent of the loan principal made by financial institutions.