BEIJING, July 16 -- China's central bank conducted 676 billion yuan (94.77 billion U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.8 percent Tuesday.

The move aims to offset the impacts of the tax period and 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.