BEIJING, May 9 -- China's central bank conducted 2 billion yuan (about 281.6 million U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.8 percent Thursday.

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