周二央行降低了贷款参考利率，标志中国开始了降低企业融资成本的利率改革。请看本报昨日的报道：

The central bank lowered the new lending reference rate slightly Tuesday, as expected, as the country kicked off new interest rate reforms designed to lower corporate borrowing costs.

But the tiny reduction in the revamped Loan Prime Rate (LPR), which is calculated from price contributions from selected banks, reflects lenders’ reluctance to reduce loan rates. That has fueled expectation China will need to take more steps to guide borrowing costs lower.

The new one-year LPR was set at 4.25 percent yesterday, down 6 basis points from 4.31 percent previously. It was 10 basis points lower than the central bank’s existing benchmark one-year lending rate.

报道中的LPR是Loan Prime Rate, 即“贷款基础利率”，是商业银行对其最优质客户执行的贷款利率，其他贷款利率可在此基础上浮动生成。