BEIJING, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank conducted 158.4 billion yuan (about 22.24 billion U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.5 percent Tuesday.

The move aims to keep liquidity reasonable and ample in the banking system, the central bank said.

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. ■