BEIJING, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank injected liquidity into the banking system through open market operations on Thursday.

The People's Bank of China injected 250 billion yuan (about 38.64 billion U.S. dollars) into the market through seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2.2 percent, according to a statement on its website.

With 2 billion yuan of reverse repos maturing on the same day, this led to a net liquidity injection of 248 billion yuan into the market.

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.

China's central bank has pledged to make its prudent monetary policy more targeted and flexible to adapt better to the needs of high-quality development and put more focus on the efficiency of financial services to support the real economy. Enditem