China’s Big Banks Cut CD Rates Below Ordinary Deposits

The notable signal is not the rate level but the direction of product design: banks are using CDs as a liability tool rather than a customer acquisition tool, which suggests margin pressure is being passed down the deposit stack instead of absorbed. That matters most for retail savers who treated online CDs as a yield alternative, and for smaller banks that may face harder comparisons if state-owned peers keep repricing. Whether this compression spreads to other deposit categories, or stays confined to short tenors, is the open question.