China's central bank conducted 284 billion yuan (about $39.61 billion) of 14-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.65 percent on Friday.

The move aims to keep liquidity in the banking system at an adequate level before the upcoming Spring Festival holiday, the People's Bank of China said in a 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.

On Friday, the central bank also conducted a 200-billion-yuan medium-term lending facility (MLF) operation to maintain ample liquidity in the country's banking system.

The MLF operation features a one-year maturity period and an interest rate of 2 percent. After the operation, the outstanding MLF balance stood at 4.294 trillion yuan, according to the central bank.