Trending · Money
Why Chinese savers are moving money out of bank deposits
超万亿元存款“大迁徙”
Chinese households are famous savers. In 2026 low deposit rates are pushing some of that money into investment and insurance products.
In short
Households in China added ¥7.58 trillion to bank deposits in the first half of 2026, ¥3.19 trillion less than a year earlier, while deposits at non-bank financial institutions rose ¥2.1 trillion more. Lower deposit rates since 2025 and a wave of maturing time deposits are pushing savers towards wealth-management, fund and insurance products.
What is happening
Deposit rates at Chinese banks have fallen since 2025. As large amounts of fixed-term deposits mature in 2026, some savers are not rolling them over, and are buying wealth-management products, funds and insurance instead. Asset-management products held ¥124.8 trillion at the end of June, up 12.7% on a year earlier.[1][2]
Why it matters
Chinese households keep a very large share of their wealth in bank deposits. Where that money goes affects banks, insurers and the stock market, which is why a shift of a few trillion yuan makes the hot-search list.
Sources
- 36Kr / Caijing Wuyuehua, H1 2026 deposits and the shift to asset management (17 July 2026, in Chinese) · accessed 25 Oct 2026
- Wallstreetcn, PBOC H1 2026 financial data (15 July 2026, in Chinese) · accessed 25 Oct 2026
Picked from Baidu’s public hot-search list and checked against the reports above. Suggest a correction