3-year large-denomination certificate of deposit rates return to 2%; some small and medium-sized banks raise deposit rates against the trend.

Recently, large-denomination certificates of deposit (CDs) with an annualized interest rate of 2% have drawn market attention. Notably, "2%-level" large-denomination CDs under regular issuance had been absent from the market for more than a year. Before the reappearance of such products, the highest annualized interest rate on 3-year large-denomination CDs under regular market issuance was 1.90%. At the same time, some small and medium-sized banks have raised their listed deposit rates against the broader trend. Interviewed experts said that the restart of 2% annualized large-denomination CDs by small and medium-sized banks is not a simple return to "high-interest" deposit-taking competition. Such products have regional and phased characteristics, and given that banks' net interest margins are currently under pressure, conditions are not yet in place for this to evolve into industry-wide price competition. The core purpose is to secure the basic base of local core deposits during the transition period of liability structure adjustment.