Chinese saved 58 trillion yuan in four years
From the beginning of 2020 to January 2024, Chinese households put about 58.24 trillion yuan in net deposits into their bank accounts, 82% of which were fixed deposits. The total amount of new deposits added over the four years is equivalent to the sum of 2009 to 2019.
In 2022 and 2023, it contributed 17.84 trillion yuan and 16.67 trillion yuan, respectively, the two years with the largest increase since the statistics began, and was not affected by the reduction of fixed deposit interest rates by different banks, large and small. In the case of China Construction Bank, its 3-year lump sum deposit interest rate dropped from 2.6% in September 2022 to 1.95% in December 2023.
Industrial Securities believes that the super-trend growth of residents' deposits comes from the change in the use of deposits, rather than simply because of less consumption. According to the report, as of the third quarter of 2023, the residential sector increased deposits by 5.7 trillion yuan by the decline in house purchases, and increased by 4.5 trillion yuan in deposits by buying less wealth management.
"In the 1990s, there were also changes in the asset allocation structure of residents, in which the proportion of real estate shrank significantly, the proportion of cash, deposits and insurance increased significantly, and the proportion of stocks and funds did not change significantly. Industrial Securities said in the report.
During this period, the deposits of government agencies and organizations also accumulated a net increase of about 5.87 trillion yuan. Except for 2020, when deposits "only" increased by 190.7 billion yuan due to a significant increase in epidemic prevention spending, the remaining three years increased by more than 1 trillion yuan, and last year it exceeded 2.3 trillion yuan.
The depository machine of government agencies and organizations refers to the appropriation of funds deposited in the bank by state organs, organizations and institutions to be used, because this part of the funds is allocated first and then used, and the deposits that have not been used have become deposits, and they are mainly current accounts. However, Great Wall Securities estimates that "the deposits of government agencies and organizations have also shown a certain trend of regularization". (Gong Fangyi)