Personal pension investment options have recently received a significant enhancement.

Starting in June, several major banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China Construction Bank (CCB), and Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC), have officially launched an online subscription feature for electronic savings bonds within the personal pension section of their mobile banking apps.

This development marks the successful inclusion of electronic savings bonds into the personal pension investment scope, establishing them as the fifth category of personal pension investment products and achieving a crucial expansion of the product matrix.

This move follows a joint notice issued by the Ministry of Finance and the People's Bank of China in November 2025 regarding the inclusion of electronic savings bonds in the personal pension product range. According to the notice, authorized institutions were to commence offering electronic savings bonds for personal pensions starting from June 2026, providing related services for pension investors who have opened personal pension fund accounts with them.

From a practical standpoint, investors wishing to participate need to open a dedicated electronic savings bond trading account within their personal pension account. Currently, multiple banks have completed system upgrades and opened a "Savings Bond" purchase portal. However, at this stage, no banks have active savings bond products available for sale; trading services are expected to be implemented gradually alongside the regular issuance of government bonds.

Previous Investment Categories and New Significance

Previously, personal pension accounts offered investment products across four main categories: bank savings deposits, bank wealth management products, commercial pension insurance, and public offering funds. Industry insiders view the inclusion of savings bonds into the personal pension product pool as precisely addressing a gap in the existing investment system, making the risk gradient of personal pension investments more comprehensive.

An analysis suggests that within the previous personal pension product system, bank deposits offered relatively low returns with short terms, net-value wealth management products carried volatility risks, commercial pension insurance had complex terms and limited liquidity, while public offering funds faced higher market volatility risks. In contrast, savings bonds, backed by national credit, combine a risk-free attribute with stable returns. They fill the supply gap for pure, risk-free long-term assets, helping to construct a complete investment gradient from zero risk to high risk. This can accurately match the pension allocation needs of investors with different risk appetites and effectively address the core issue of conservative investors lacking suitable long-term investment tools.

Yield Advantages and Market Impact

From a returns perspective, the value of allocating to savings bonds is particularly prominent in the current low-interest-rate environment.

Taking the two series of electronic savings bonds issued from April 10 to April 19 this year as an example, the 3-year product offered an annual coupon rate of 1.63%, and the 5-year product offered 1.70%. These yield levels are higher than the listed interest rates for fixed-term deposits of the same maturity at major state-owned banks, helping investors effectively lock in long-term stable returns and hedge against the risk of continuously declining market interest rates.

This business expansion not only benefits individual investors but is also expected to inject vitality into the high-quality development of the government bond market. Experts have noted that personal pension funds represent typical long-term capital. Introducing personal pension funds into the government bond market will bring significant long-term funding to the market, powerfully promoting its high-quality development.

Addressing Current Challenges

It has been observed that since the comprehensive promotion of the personal pension system, although the number of accounts opened has grown rapidly, the effectiveness of fund accumulation has consistently fallen short of expectations.

Data shows that by mid-2025, the number of opened personal pension accounts exceeded 150 million, more than doubling from 72.79 million at the end of 2024. However, among these 150 million opened accounts, the proportion that actually made fund contributions remained in the range of 20% to 25%.

Industry experts believe that the "pooling" of savings bonds may attract more groups to participate in personal pension investments, potentially solving the challenge of "high account opening enthusiasm but low contribution activity."

Savings bonds possess core characteristics such as the highest credit rating, guaranteed returns, and tax-free interest. In the current low-rate environment, their allocation value is particularly outstanding, helping investors lock in long-term stable returns and effectively hedge against interest rate decline risks.

It is anticipated that within the next six months, the activation rate of personal pension accounts will see a phased and noticeable increase, with incremental funds primarily coming from conservative investors with lower risk tolerance.