China: More Support, Less Surprise: Assessing November 2 equity-market support measures

On November 2, 2026, the PBOC, NFRA and CSRC convened two meetings with 23 securities and fund companies and 26 banks on the SFISF and stock buyback and shareholding-increase relending. The PBOC shifted relending to a long-term institutional arrangement and cut its funding rate by 25bp to 1%, with banks adding a market-priced margin. Regulators proposed broader swap participation, lower fees and simpler operations. The announcement reports CNY105bn in outstanding swaps, roughly CNY440bn in signed loan agreements and over CNY280bn in cumulative disbursements; these measure financing, not executed purchases, and cannot be added together as fresh inflows or attributed to Central Huijin. The absence of a new headline quota limits the surprise, though deploying existing capacity can still provide meaningful support. This round relies more on targeted deployment and institutional continuity than the broad macro package of September 24, 2024, which combined monetary and mortgage easing with C