Doha: China's one-year loan prime rate (LPR), a market-based benchmark lending rate, was 3.1 percent on 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 Qatar News Agency, the decision to keep the LPR unchanged this month helps stabilize the RMB exchange rate and mitigate interest rate risks. Despite remaining flat, the LPR saw cumulative declines of 35 basis points for the one-year rate and 60 basis points for the over-five-year rate last year, marking the largest annual reductions on record.