Ministry of Finance: The residential mortgage interest subsidy policy will be implemented starting October 1, providing interest subsidy support at an annualized rate of 1 percentage point on the loan principal for a period not exceeding 5 years.

On September 29, the Ministry of Finance, the People's Bank of China, and the National Financial Regulatory Administration issued a notice on implementing the residential home purchase loan interest subsidy policy. It stated that resident families who take out loans to purchase commodity housing and meet the following conditions at the same time may enjoy support under the central government fiscal interest subsidy policy. The policy will be implemented starting October 1, 2026, with an implementation period tentatively set at 1 year. During this period, for eligible first-home commercial personal housing loans newly issued by handling banks, the fiscal authorities will provide interest subsidy support at an annualized rate of 1 percentage point on the loan principal for a period not exceeding 5 years, and the upper limit of the loan amount eligible for interest subsidy per household is 1 million yuan. Interest subsidy funds will be borne by the central government and local governments at 90% and 10% respectively. Among this, the sharing ratio for provincial-level and below fiscal authorities shall be independently determined by provincial-level fiscal authorities in light of actual conditions. In addition, the Ministry of Finance, together with the National Financial Regulatory Administration, will organize local regulatory bureaus of the Ministry of Finance and local regulatory bureaus of the National Financial Regulatory Administration at appropriate times to carry out joint spot checks. If it is discovered that interest subsidy funds have been obtained or defrauded through irregular operations, the interest subsidy funds shall be recovered. For banks that collude with customers in irregular operations, responsibility shall be strictly pursued, and if the circumstances are serious, they shall not continue to handle related interest subsidy business. The full text is as follows: Notice on Implementing the Residential Home Purchase Loan Interest Subsidy Policy Cai Jin [2026] No. 95 To the finance departments (bureaus) of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and cities under separate state planning; the Finance Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps; the Shanghai Head Office of the People's Bank of China and all branches in provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and cities under separate state planning; all financial regulatory bureaus; and relevant financial institutions: In order to thoroughly implement the relevant decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and by strengthening coordination between fiscal and financial policies, support the rigid housing demand of urban and rural residents, it has been decided to implement the residential home purchase loan interest subsidy policy nationwide to reduce the interest burden of commercial personal housing loans for families newly purchasing their first home. Relevant matters are hereby notified as follows: I. Policy Content (1) Eligible recipients. Resident families who take out loans to purchase commodity housing and meet the following conditions at the same time may enjoy support under the central government fiscal interest subsidy policy: 1. Use newly issued commercial personal housing loans to purchase a first home, excluding the use of newly issued commercial personal housing loans to replace existing loans; 2. The floor area of the purchased housing is below 120 square meters (including 120 square meters); 3. The price of the purchased housing is below 1.5 million yuan (including 1.5 million yuan). (2) Interest subsidy standard. The policy will be implemented starting October 1, 2026, with an implementation period tentatively set at 1 year. During this period, for eligible first-home commercial personal housing loans newly issued by handling banks, the fiscal authorities will provide interest subsidy support at an annualized rate of 1 percentage point on the loan principal for a period not exceeding 5 years, and the upper limit of the loan amount eligible for interest subsidy per household is 1 million yuan. (3) Sharing ratio. Interest subsidy funds will be borne by the central government and local governments at 90% and 10% respectively. Among this, the sharing ratio for provincial-level and below fiscal authorities shall be independently determined by provincial-level fiscal authorities in light of actual conditions. (4) Handling banks. Banks that conduct commercial personal housing loan business may all handle residential home purchase loan interest subsidy business in accordance with policy provisions. II. Fund Management (1) Working mechanism. The allocation of interest subsidy funds shall adopt a "pre-allocation + settlement" method. Provincial-level fiscal authorities shall establish a "province-to-province" working mechanism with provincial branches of nationwide banks, head offices of local legal-person banks, head offices of private banks, and domestic headquarters of foreign-funded banks (hereinafter collectively referred to as provincial offices of handling banks), shorten the working chain, and efficiently carry out the pre-allocation, review, settlement, and clearing of interest subsidy funds. If a handling bank has no provincial-level branch, its head office shall coordinate with the provincial-level fiscal authority at its place of registration. (2) Operational process. The provincial office of a handling bank shall submit an application for the current year's interest subsidy funds to the local provincial-level fiscal authority in the first month after the policy is issued and before the end of January each year. The provincial-level fiscal authority shall, in the second month after the policy is issued and before the end of February each year, summarize the interest subsidy fund applications of the provincial offices of handling banks and report them to the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry of Finance shall, based on the annual budget arrangement, pre-allocate central government fiscal interest subsidy funds to provincial-level fiscal authorities, and provincial-level fiscal authorities shall organize and ensure local interest subsidy funds. In light of policy implementation, the Ministry of Finance and provincial-level fiscal authorities, and provincial-level fiscal authorities and provincial offices of handling banks, shall settle interest subsidy funds separately. After the interest subsidy period expires, fiscal authorities and handling banks shall carry out clearing of interest subsidy funds. III. Organization and Implementation (1) Consolidate primary responsibilities. Handling banks shall, in conjunction with relevant information such as online signing and filing and housing purchase contracts, do a good job in reviewing interest subsidy eligibility; strictly perform loan review duties, and do a good job in entrusted payment of loan funds, classified statistics, data monitoring, and other aspects; establish a reporting and statistical system, and submit monthly reports to the Ministry of Finance and provincial-level fiscal authorities on loan issuance and the use of interest subsidy funds, with copies sent to the People's Bank of China and the National Financial Regulatory Administration; when signing loan contracts, inform borrowers in an appropriate manner of the interest subsidy ratio, interest subsidy period, interest subsidy amount, and other elements, so as to ensure borrowers know the policy content; when collecting interest monthly, automatically deduct the corresponding interest subsidy amount, realize "enjoyment without application," and inform borrowers of their enjoyment of national policy through mobile phone text messages, APP messages, and other means. (2) Strengthen coordination among all parties. The Ministry of Finance shall take the lead in organizing implementation, do a good job in budget management, and strengthen supervision over the use of funds. Financial management departments shall, according to the division of responsibilities, do a good job in real estate credit management, and guide and urge handling banks to carry out loan issuance and interest subsidy work in accordance with laws and regulations. Provincial branches of the People's Bank of China shall share relevant policy implementation information with provincial-level fiscal authorities, and strengthen the coordination and linkage between monetary policy and fiscal policy. (3) Strengthen joint supervision. The Ministry of Finance, together with the National Financial Regulatory Administration, will organize local regulatory bureaus of the Ministry of Finance and local regulatory bureaus of the National Financial Regulatory Administration at appropriate times to carry out joint spot checks. If it is discovered that interest subsidy funds have been obtained or defrauded through irregular operations, the interest subsidy funds shall be recovered. For banks that collude with customers in irregular operations, responsibility shall be strictly pursued, and if the circumstances are serious, they shall not continue to handle related interest subsidy business. Ministry of Finance, People's Bank of China, National Financial Regulatory Administration September 29, 2026 Relevant heads of the Ministry of Finance, the People's Bank of China, and the National Financial Regulatory Administration answer reporters' questions on implementing the residential home purchase loan interest subsidy policy On September 29, the Ministry of Finance, together with the People's Bank of China and the National Financial Regulatory Administration, issued the Notice on Implementing the Residential Home Purchase Loan Interest Subsidy Policy (Cai Jin [2026] No. 95). Relevant heads of the Ministry of Finance, the People's Bank of China, and the National Financial Regulatory Administration answered reporters' questions. I. Please introduce the background and significance of the policy. Housing issues concern people's livelihood and well-being. The Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to them and have repeatedly put forward clear requirements for residents' housing work. In recent years, the Ministry of Finance, together with relevant parties, has launched a combination of measures on the supply side, including supporting the issuance of new special bonds for land reserves and supporting local governments in purchasing existing commercial housing for use as affordable housing, so as to improve supply and benefit the people. This time, the central government finance is providing interest subsidies for commercial personal housing loans for some groups with relatively low income for the first time, further opening up space for policy efforts on the demand side: by strengthening fiscal-financial coordination, giving play to the mechanisms of fiscal guidance, financial amplification, and market operation, better supporting and releasing the rigid housing demand of urban and rural residents, truly helping new citizens such as migrant workers, young people such as newly employed college graduates, and urban wage-earning families and other first-home purchase families reduce costs and burdens, and helping more people have a place to live. On the basis of in-depth research, the Ministry of Finance, together with the People's Bank of China, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, and other departments, formed the policy plan. II. What are the main contents of the policy? The central government fiscal implementation of the residential home purchase loan interest subsidy policy is an exploration of ways to safeguard and improve people's livelihood in the housing field. By defining total housing price, housing area, loan category, and other factors, it aims to benefit the target groups as precisely as possible and help families with relatively low income who are preparing to buy the most ordinary housing "reduce monthly payments a bit." First, focus on first-home rigid demand, with key support for ordinary families newly purchasing small- and medium-sized, relatively low-priced housing. The main purpose is to use limited fiscal funds to benefit more rigid-demand groups inclusively, and provide interest subsidy support to resident families that meet the following conditions at the same time: First, use newly issued commercial personal housing loans to purchase a first home, excluding replacement of existing loans. Among this, the determination of "first home" shall be implemented in accordance with current policies, including both new homes and second-hand homes. Second, the floor area of the purchased housing shall not exceed 120 square meters. Third, the price of the purchased housing shall not exceed 1.5 million yuan. The above conditions are set mainly to focus on supporting the basic home purchase needs of rigid-demand groups. Considering that residents' income, housing area, price levels, and other conditions vary across cities, the central level seeks to balance nationwide considerations of benefiting people's livelihood, ensuring basic needs, broad coverage, promoting fairness, and fiscal capacity. For relevant groups using loans to purchase affordable housing and using housing provident fund loans to purchase homes, the state already has relevant policy support, and this policy will not be enjoyed cumulatively. Second, interest subsidy of 1 percentage point to reduce the interest cost of residents' loan home purchases. The loan amount eligible for interest subsidy is at most 1 million yuan, and fiscal authorities will provide an annualized interest subsidy of 1 percentage point. Based on the current interest rate level of first-home commercial personal housing loans, this is equivalent to a discount of one-third of the interest rate, with an interest subsidy period of up to 5 years. For example, for a long-term commercial personal housing loan of 1 million yuan, considering that most housing loans pay interest and repay principal monthly and the loan balance decreases month by month, the interest subsidy policy can help the borrower reduce cumulative interest payments by nearly 50,000 yuan at most. The specific interest subsidy amount enjoyed by resident families varies depending on loan size, term, repayment method, and other circumstances. Third, provide interest subsidies wherever eligible, with full guarantee of fiscal interest subsidy funds. The policy start date is October 1 this year, and the policy implementation period is tentatively set at 1 year. During this period, eligible resident families may all enjoy fiscal interest subsidy support. In implementation, there is no upper limit on the total scale of funds, sufficient budget arrangements have been made, and settlement shall be based on actual conditions. III. What arrangements are there for the specific implementation of the policy? Interest subsidy is an important fiscal-financial coordination policy tool. In recent years, we have guided local governments and financial institutions to continuously explore and optimize, improve the working mechanism of horizontal collaboration and vertical connectivity, and constantly improve the convenience of policy operation. In organizing and implementing the residential home purchase loan interest subsidy policy this time, the focus is on the following aspects: First, full coverage of handling banks, making it convenient to "apply nearby" for loans. Considering that commercial personal housing loan business has many outlets and broad coverage, in order to facilitate resident families to borrow nearby and enjoy nearby, all banks that conduct commercial personal housing loan business may handle residential home purchase loan interest subsidy business in accordance with regulations. Second, interest subsidy benefits are delivered automatically, allowing LBX Pharmacy Chain Joint Stock to "enjoy with peace of mind." Home purchasers handle loans at banks according to normal credit procedures and only need to simultaneously authorize the bank to handle the interest subsidy on their behalf when signing the loan contract. The bank automatically identifies eligible borrowers and, when collecting interest monthly, automatically calculates and deducts the corresponding interest subsidy amount. If the borrower repays normally, the interest subsidy benefit will be directly reflected in each installment's repayment amount. The bank will promptly inform them of the interest subsidy enjoyment through mobile phone text messages, APP messages, and other means, so that borrowers "know where they stand." Third, the management chain is more streamlined, making the process "efficiently handled." If LBX Pharmacy Chain Joint Stock is to have peace of mind, organization and implementation must be smooth. For factors such as first-home determination, housing area, total housing price, and loan amount, banks already have them when approving and issuing loans. In order to simplify the operational process, this policy clearly stipulates that handling banks are responsible for reviewing interest subsidy eligibility, and relevant departments shall organize joint spot checks at appropriate times. Fiscal authorities shall take the lead in organizing implementation, strengthen coordination and cooperation with handling banks, and ensure interest subsidy funds; the People's Bank of China and the National Financial Regulatory Administration shall, according to the division of responsibilities, do a good job in real estate credit management, strengthen the coordination and linkage between monetary policy and fiscal policy, and guide and urge handling banks to do a good job in loan issuance and interest subsidy work. Next, we will closely track the progress of policy implementation, strive to make operations as simple and convenient as possible and reduce the need for the public to make extra trips, promote the full release of policy effects, and ensure the public benefits as early as possible. This article is edited from the official website of the "Ministry of Finance." GMTEight editor: Liu Jiayin.