[Pan Gongsheng: Withdrawal of deposit and loan benchmark interest rates] On October 19, at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Financial Street Forum Annual Meeting, Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People's Bank of China, stated that the deposit and loan benchmark interest rates will be withdrawn. With the advancement of interest rate marketization reform, the benchmark interest rates for deposits and loans are gradually replaced by market-based pricing benchmarks. Bank loan interest rates already have multiple pricing benchmarks such as loan market quotation rates and inter-bank overnight repurchase rates. Since the first quarter of this year, the People's Bank of China has announced the average interest rates on deposits of various maturities as a reference for bank deposit pricing. In the next step, the People's Bank of China will promote the replacement of interest calculation basis in these areas with market-based interest rate indicators to achieve the withdrawal of the benchmark interest rates for deposits and loans of financial institutions.