Chinese Banks Revive 3- and 5-Year Large-Denomination CDs as Rate Edge Narrows

The return of longer-tenor large-denomination CDs looks less like a funding grab than a defensive move: with the rate premium over ordinary deposits narrowing — and some products actually yielding less — banks are leaning on transferability rather than price to keep depositors from walking. That reframes the product as a liquidity feature, not a yield play, which matters most for rate-sensitive savers sitting on maturing high-yield deposits. The open question is whether transferability alone can hold those balances as liability-cost control stays the priority.