China on Thursday cut the market-based benchmark lending rate in a bid to shore up growth.

The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) came in at 3.7 percent Thursday, down from 3.8 percent a month earlier, according to the National Interbank Funding Center.

The over-five-year LPR, on which many lenders base their mortgage rates, was lowered by 5 basis points to 4.6 percent.  ■