BEIJING, Aug. 24 -- China's central bank conducted 61 billion yuan (about 8.49 billion U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.8 percent Thursday.

The move aims 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.