Every Daily Hot Comment | Let the over 10 trillion yuan in housing provident funds "wake up" as soon as possible and become a "timely good rain" that benefits people's livelihoods

In recent days, there has been increasing calls for reforming the housing provident fund system. First, after a decade, the reform has once again been included in the government work report, which emphasizes “lowering the interest rate on individual housing provident fund loans.” Second, the relaxation of purchase restrictions over the past two years—such as support for multi-child families buying homes and increased loan quotas at the local level—has reached a critical point.

The 2015 government work report stated: “Continue to promote reforms in science and technology, education, culture, healthcare, pension insurance, public institutions, and the housing provident fund.” At that time, the real estate market was still in a key stage of destocking, and the main role of the provident fund was to assist residents in purchasing homes and absorb existing market inventory.

This year’s government work report specifically highlights the reform of the housing provident fund system, indicating that the issue is becoming increasingly important.

Currently, the real estate market has shifted from strong demand to a structural oversupply. The demand for new housing cannot return to the high levels of the past peak, while residents’ needs for improved living quality are growing more urgent. This presents new requirements for the provident fund system.

Therefore, we see that since last year, the provident fund has been a frequently mentioned term in the optimization of housing market regulation policies across various regions. According to China Index Academy, over 630 real estate policies have been introduced nationwide in 2025, with about 280 policies related to optimizing provident fund loan policies—the highest among all policy categories. Since February this year, cities like Shanghai, Xiamen, and Tianjin have implemented new provident fund policies.

In the past, provident fund withdrawals generally required meeting specific conditions such as buying a home, renting, or retirement. Now, the fund can also be used for down payments, paying property fees, or installing elevators in old buildings.

The introduction of these policies is a positive exploration of reforming the provident fund system and sends a strong signal: the provident fund is shifting from a single tool for supporting home purchases to a comprehensive social security fund covering all housing scenarios. As the real estate industry enters a new stage, it is time for the provident fund system to respond to this demand.

In January this year, the People’s Daily Commentary Department mentioned in an article titled “What Signal Does the Central ‘Naming’ of the Housing Provident Fund Send?” that, “In 2016, the nationwide provident fund deposit balance was 4.56 trillion yuan; by the end of 2024, it had grown to 10.9 trillion yuan, more than doubling. With such a large amount of money sitting idle, there is room for efficiency improvement, making reform truly necessary.”

More importantly, over 20 years ago, commercial loan interest rates were often around 6% or higher, giving the provident fund a significant advantage. But now, the interest rate gap has greatly narrowed. In first-tier cities, a single home can cost several million yuan, and the 1.2 million yuan cap on provident fund loans clearly cannot meet demand. The shortfall still relies on commercial loans, and the annual interest rate on provident fund deposits is only 1.5%, offering limited returns.

From an internal logic perspective, whether it’s recent focus on housing security for first-time married and newly parented families or support for multi-child families purchasing homes, these are part of a unified “combination punch” aimed at precisely releasing reasonable housing demand, reducing family living costs, and stabilizing the real estate market. These efforts also align deeply with the long-term national strategies of encouraging childbirth and safeguarding livelihoods. The reform of the provident fund system is the most important financial support within this framework.

If the over 10 trillion yuan of dormant funds can be activated, the provident fund will no longer be just a loan tool. It could play a greater role in supporting cross-region recognition and lending, lowering the threshold for “public to private” conversions, and expanding coverage to flexible employment groups. This way, not only can it boost the housing market, but it can also better benefit people’s livelihoods.

From stabilizing the market to institutional reform, from risk prevention to building “good houses,” the path for high-quality real estate development by 2026 is already clear. Against this backdrop, we look forward to the rapid implementation of provident fund reforms, so that the over 10 trillion yuan of funds can “awaken” quickly and become a timely rain that benefits people’s livelihoods.