The over-five-year LPR, on which many lenders base their mortgage rates, also remained unchanged from the previous reading of 4.65 percent, according to the National Interbank Funding Center (NIFC).
The lending rates have remained steady for nine consecutive months since May, matching market expectations, analysts said.
In the key Central Economic Work Conference held last month, China's policymakers have vowed to keep macro policies consistent, stable and sustainable in 2021, with a prudent monetary policy that is flexible, precise, reasonable and moderate.
China will prioritize stability in its monetary policy and avoid making sudden shifts in 2021, said Chen Yulu, vice governor of the People's Bank of China, at a press conference Friday.
The central bank will use a comprehensive range of monetary policy tools including reserve requirement ratio, re-lending and rediscount, medium-term lending facility and open market operations to maintain liquidity at a reasonably ample level, Chen said.
On Wednesday, the central bank injected 280 billion yuan (43.19 billion U.S. dollars) into the market via seven-day reverse repos. With 2 billion yuan of reverse repos maturing on the same day, this led to a net liquidity injection of 278 billion yuan into the market.
Based on bank quotes calculated by adding a few basis points to the interest rate of open market operations (mainly referring to the medium-term lending facility rate), the LPR is calculated by the NIFC to serve as a pricing reference for bank lending. The LPR currently consists of rates with two maturities -- one year and over five years.
The quoting banks submit their figures before 9 a.m. on the 20th day of every month. The NIFC calculates and releases the LPR at 9:30 a.m. on the same day or on the next working day.
Latest comments