BEIJING -- China's central bank drained liquidity from the banking system through open market operations on Thursday.

The People's Bank of China conducted 10 billion yuan ($1.55 billion) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2.2 percent, according to a statement on its website.

With 50 billion yuan of reverse repos maturing on the same day, the move resulted in a net liquidity withdrawal of 40 billion yuan from 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.