BEIJING -- China's central bank on Monday lowered the interest rate on seven-day reverse repos from 1.8 percent to 1.7 percent.

The move aims to strengthen counter-cyclical adjustments to better support the real economy, the People's Bank of China said in an online statement.

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.

The central bank conducted 58.2 billion yuan ($8.16 billion) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.7 percent Monday.

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