BEIJING - China's central bank continued to inject liquidity into the financial system through open market operations on Wednesday to offset liquidity pressure.

The People's Bank of China pumped 100 billion yuan ($15.4 billion) into the market through reverse repos, with 60 billion yuan of contracts maturing, leading to a net injection of 40 billion yuan.

A reverse repo is a process by which the central bank bids and buys securities from commercial banks, with an agreement to sell them back in the future.

The central bank conducted 70 billion yuan of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2.55 percent and 30 billion yuan of 14-day reverse repos at 2.7 percent.

The central bank increasingly relies on open-market operations, rather than changes in interest rates or reserve requirement ratios, to manage liquidity in a more flexible and targeted manner.

China has decided to maintain a prudent and neutral monetary policy in 2018 as it strives to balance growth and risk prevention.