Three-year term deposits now offer almost no yield advantage over one-year as
deposit rates slide, narrowing the long-versus-short rate gap at large
state-owned banks. Relationship managers across Beijing branches are
increasingly marketing participating whole-life and participating annuity
products. Sushang Bank researcher Xue Hongyan says the shift from time deposits
to bancassurance is reshaping bank liabilities and household savings. Diverting
long-term deposits can lower high-cost funding and support net interest margins,
but continued migration would erode core stable deposits, heighten liquidity
management pressure and strain asset‑liability maturity matching. Household
liquidity falls as funds move into long-duration insurance contracts, creating
an implicit risk of certificates being converted into policies.
