◆ Reduced re-loan interest rates to support agriculture and small and medium-sized businesses
1. The People’s Bank of China announced that it will lower the re-lending and rediscounting interest rates by 0.25 percentage points from January 19, 2026, in order to better utilize structural monetary policy tools and encourage financial institutions to expand support for “national-level major strategies, key areas, and vulnerable sectors.”
2. Accordingly, the ‘Agriculture and Small and Medium Business Support Reloan Interest Rates’ for maturities of 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after the cut will be adjusted to 0.95%, 1.15%, and 1.25%, respectively, and the re-discount rate will be adjusted to 1.5%. The collateral-supplementary loan (PSL) interest rate is adjusted to 1.75%, and the interest rate for certain structural monetary policy instruments is adjusted to 1.25%.
◆ TikTok-US joint venture expected to be established on December 22nd
1. Zhou Suzhou, CEO of Chinese video platform TikTok, announced the latest progress in the U.S. business through an internal letter on December 18 (local time). Parent companies ByteDance and TikTok plan to establish a new U.S. joint venture with three investors, and the new U.S. joint venture will be established in January 2026 at the latest. It was announced that it is scheduled to be completed by the 22nd.
2. The name of the new joint venture is ‘TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC’, and it will be responsible for data protection, algorithm security, content review, and software assurance in the United States.
3. TikTok’s other U.S. entities, which are 100% controlled by ByteDance, will continue to be responsible for commercial activities such as e-commerce, advertising, and market operations, as well as the global interconnection and interoperation of TikTok products.
