China's central bank lowered the minimum amount of certificates of deposit (CDs) by individual investors¹ from 300,000 to 200,000 to give more people access to this investment channel.

日前，央行将个人投资人认购大额存单起点金额从30万元下调至20万元，以此让更多的人进入这一投资渠道。

A certificate of deposit is a time deposit that entitles the holder² to receive interest at a higher rate than ordinary deposits, and thus is more appealing to savers.

大额存单是可以让持有者获得高于普通存款利率的利息收入的定期存款，因此对储户来说更具吸引力。

The People's Bank of China allowed commercial banks to issue CDs in June 2015, with a minimum amount of 300,000 yuan for individuals and 10 million yuan for institutions.

2015年6月，中国人民银行允许商业银行发行大额存单，个人认购的起点金额为30万元，机构认购的起点金额为1000万元。

The central bank said in a statement that lowering the threshold aims to promote the development of CDs, diversify³ personal investment channels and help banks attract deposits.

央行在一份声明中表示，降低门槛的目的是推进大额存单业务发展、拓宽个人投资渠道、帮助银行吸引存款。

Interest rates on the certificates are mainly determined⁴ by the market. CDs are tradable and can be used as mortgage for loans, according to rules unveiled by the central bank a year ago.

存单的利率主要由市场决定。根据央行一年前公布的规则，大额存单是可流通的，可以作为贷款抵押。