BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank injected funds into the financial system through open market operations on Thursday.

The People's Bank of China said on its website that it has conducted 64 billion yuan (about 9.3 billion U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2 percent.

The move is aimed at keeping liquidity reasonable and ample in the banking system, according to the central bank.

A total of 109 billion yuan of reverse repos matured on the same day, resulting in a net withdrawal of 45 billion yuan from the financial system.

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.