Since the 1990s, all the financial institutions in China's loan market have determined their interest rate by floating up or down certain proportions of the benchmark interest rate announced by the People's Bank of China (PBOC Base Rate). Because the PBOC Base Rate is not closely aligned to the immediate supply-demand dynamics and also because it lacks a transparent pricing calculation formula, the PBOC Base Rate is generally considered as an administrative guidance price rather than a market-oriented price.