BEIJING, Aug. 16 -- China's central bank conducted 299 billion yuan (41.54 billion U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.8 percent Wednesday.

The move aims to offset the impacts of tax period and government bond issuance, and to keep liquidity in the banking system reasonable and ample, the People's Bank of China said in a statement.

A reverse repo is a process in which the central bank purchases securities from commercial banks through bidding, with an agreement to sell them back in the future.