BEIJING, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) - China's central bank injected 120 billion yuan (about 17.3 billion U.S. dollars) of funds into the market on Monday through reverse repos to maintain liquidity.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) conducted the seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2.55 percent, which was unchanged from the rate for the previous 30 billion-yuan operation on Friday, it said in a statement.

The move is aimed at offsetting the impact of such factors as tax payments and government bond issuance and keeping liquidity in the banking system at a reasonable and ample level, according to the statement.

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.

China will continue to implement a prudent and neutral monetary policy and properly deal with the relationship between stabilizing growth, deleveraging and strengthening regulatory control, according to a statement issued after a Saturday meeting of the financial stability and development committee under the State Council.