SHANGHAI, March 20 (Reuters) - China held benchmark

lending rates steady for the fifth straight month in March on

Thursday, matching market expectations.

The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was kept

at 3.1%, while the five-year LPR was unchanged

at 3.6%.

In a Reuters poll of 33 market participants conducted this

week, 29, or 88% of them expected no changes to either of the

two rates.

Most new and outstanding loans in China are based on the

one-year LPR, while the five-year rate influences the pricing of

mortgages.

In October 2024, Chinese lenders slashed lending benchmarks

by bigger-than-expected margins to revive economic activity.