In this June 24, 2020 file photo, a cashier counts RMB notes in a bank in Haian, Jiangsu province. (PHOTO / SIPA)

BEIJING - China's one-year loan prime rate (LPR), a market-based benchmark lending rate, came in at 3.85 percent on Friday, unchanged from the previous month.

The over-five-year LPR, on which many lenders base their mortgage rates, also remained unchanged from the previous reading of 4.65 percent, according to the National Interbank Funding Center (NIFC).

The lending rates have remained steady for seven consecutive months since May this year, matching market expectations and current economic fundamentals, said Wen Bin, chief analyst at China Minsheng Bank, in a co-authored research note.

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Wen reckons the central bank will continue to maintain reasonable and sufficient market liquidity through open market operations and the medium-term lending facility (MLF), among other means, to facilitate the recovery and development of the country's real economy.

Based on bank-calculated quotes made by adding a few basis points to the interest rate of open market operations (mainly referring to the MLF rate), the LPR is calculated by the NIFC to serve as a pricing reference for bank lending. The LPR currently consists of rates with two maturities -- one year and over five years.

The quoting banks submit their figures before 9 a.m. on the 20th day of every month. The NIFC calculates and releases the LPR at 9:30 am on the same day or on the next working day.