China’s Big Six Banks Add $845 Billion in Time Deposits Despite Record-Low Rates

China's six largest state-owned banks added more than 6 trillion yuan ($845 billion) in time deposits in the first half of 2026, even as the rates they pay on those deposits fell to the lowest levels on record, according to bank disclosures compiled by Yicai.

Combined corporate and personal time deposits at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, Postal Savings Bank of China and Bank of Communications rose 6.04 trillion yuan in the six months through June, with individual depositors accounting for 3.76 trillion yuan of that increase and corporate depositors 2.27 trillion yuan. ICBC, CCB and ABC each added more than 1 trillion yuan on their own. The increase made up nearly 90% of the six banks' total deposit growth for the period, a roughly 10-percentage-point jump in that share from a year earlier, even though the absolute increase was smaller than in the first half of 2025.

The buildup came as the top state banks cut their benchmark three- and five-year deposit rates to as low as 1.55%, down 125 to 135 basis points from three years ago. Bank executives said the vast majority of maturing high-rate deposits are simply being rolled over rather than withdrawn. Bank of Communications vice president Zhou Wankui said the bank's renewal rate on maturing deposits is running above 90% "even though deposit rates have fallen to historic lows," while China Construction Bank vice president Tang Shuo cited a similar rollover rate for personal time deposits.

Nationwide, People's Bank of China data show yuan-denominated deposits stood at 346.44 trillion yuan at the end of June, up 8.2% year-on-year, with household deposits at 173.48 trillion yuan after growing 7.58 trillion yuan in the first half — a slower pace of increase than the 10.77 trillion yuan added in the same period of 2025. The lower deposit rates have also helped the big banks: interest expense on deposits fell by double digits at all six lenders in the first half even as deposit balances grew, supporting a stabilization in net interest margins that bank executives flagged as one of the better-than-expected features of this year's results.