BEIJING - China's central bank drained 40 billion yuan ($5.68 billion) from the financial system Wednesday, with more reverse repos maturing than conducted.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) injected 60 billion yuan into the market through seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2.55 percent, with 100 billion yuan of reverse repos maturing, leading to a net withdrawal of 40 billion yuan.

A reverse repo is a process by which the central bank purchases securities from commercial banks through bidding, with an agreement to sell them back in the future.

China will keep its prudent monetary policy "neither too tight nor too loose" while maintaining market liquidity at a reasonably ample level in 2019.