PBOC

The People's Bank of China (PBOC; Chinese: 中国人民银行) is the central bank of the People’s Republic of China. It was established in 1948 and is headquartered in Beijing. The PBOC is responsible for formulating and implementing monetary policy, maintaining financial stability, issuing currency, and overseeing the nation’s payment systems. It operates under the authority of the State Council and is led by a governor, who is supported by deputy governors and senior officials.

The PBOC’s core objectives include maintaining price stability, supporting economic growth, and ensuring the smooth functioning of financial markets and the payment infrastructure. To influence money supply and credit conditions, it uses tools such as reserve requirement ratios, policy interest rates, and open market operations, along with liquidity facilities like the medium-term lending facility (MLF) and standing lending facility (SLF). It also manages foreign exchange reserves and participates in the management of the Renminbi’s exchange rate within a managed float system tied to a basket of currencies.

In practice, monetary policy and financial regulation are conducted in coordination with other regulatory bodies, notably the China Banking Regulatory Commission (now part of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, CBIRC) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). The PBOC also engages in international cooperation and policy dialogue with global institutions, contributing to the international use and settlement of the yuan and to global financial stability. The bank continues reforms to strengthen financial supervision, macroprudential oversight, and the modernization of monetary policy tools.