BEIJING, Sept. 25 -- China's central bank on Wednesday conducted a 300-billion-yuan (about 42.73 billion U.S. dollars) medium-term lending facility (MLF) operation to maintain reasonable and ample liquidity in the banking system.

The MLF operation had a maturity of one year with an interest rate of 2 percent, 30 basis points lower than the previous level.

After the operation, the outstanding balance of the MLF stood at 6.878 trillion yuan.