BEIJING -- The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said Thursday that more than 7 million payment transactions related to the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic had been handled through its payment and clearing system.

The transactions involved an aggregate amount of 6 trillion yuan ($865 billion) as of March 2, PBOC data showed.

Of the total, 190,000 payment transactions were related to the epidemic prevention and control in Hubei Province, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The central bank waived inter-bank transfer fees of donations and fund remittances for epidemic prevention to Hubei and other virus-hit regions through its payment and clearing system.