BEIJING, May 15 -- A 0.5-percentage points reduction in the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for eligible financial institutions takes effect Thursday, with the move expected to inject roughly 1 trillion yuan (about 139 billion U.S. dollars) of long-term liquidity into the financial market.

The RRR cut, the first such move since the start of this year, was announced last week by the People's Bank of China, China's central bank.

The RRR cut was among a raft of supportive measures that also included policy rate cuts and increased financial support through relending facilities announced by monetary and financial regulatory bodies recently, as the world's second-largest economy steps up efforts to stabilize markets and sustain economic recovery amid external headwinds.

Also starting Thursday, the RRR for auto financing and financial leasing companies is slashed by 5 percentage points to zero percent, with the cut expected to increase the credit supply capacity of these two types of institutions in their respective fields.