The People's Bank of China, which unexpectedly cut rates last week, says it will wait until economic data for the fourth quarter is released before deciding on whether to cut rates further, according to Reuters.

Last week's move by China's central bank was the first time it cut rates in more than two years.

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"Regarding the next step, whether to cut rates again or take similar action, we still need to look at the fourth quarter's macroeconomic index," Chen Yulu, who sits on the central bank's monetary policy committee told Reuters. "It is also important to make decisions taking into account Japanese and U.S. monetary policy."

He also said that he didn't think the most recent lending rate cuts reflected a new direction in China's monetary policy.

China's growth rate decelerated to 7.3 percent during the third quarter if this year, and officials were concerned about the rate falling below the 7 percent threshold, which hasn't happened since the 2008 global financial crisis.

Producer prices have been falling for almost three years, putting pressure on manufacturers, and consumer inflation is also weak.

China's Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), which measures the country's factory activity, fell to 50.8 for the month of October, from 51.1 in September, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Industry observers had been expecting a slight increase in manufacturing growth.

At the same, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) earlier this month showed fixed-asset investment had its slowest growth in the past 13 years. It grew by 15.9 percent during the first 10 months of the year, compared to the first 10 months of last year.

All of these factors started to take its toll on the public's psyche, as Chinese consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in more than three years.

Earlier today, China's central bank cut the yield for a key short-term money rate for the fourth time this year as government officials try to reduce funding pressure on Chinese companies.

TagsChina to Wait For Q4 Data Before Cutting Rates Further, People’s Bank of China, china central bank, Rate cuts, interest rates, economic data, fourth quarter, Chen Yulu, National Bureau of Statistics