BEIJING, July 12 -- China's central bank conducted 2 billion yuan (280.45 million U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.8 percent Friday.

The move aims to keep liquidity reasonable and ample in the banking system, the central bank said.

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.