The People's Bank of China lowered unexpectedly its interest rate on Friday. China's central bank cut its one year deposit rate to 2.75% from 3.0%. That was the first cut since 2012. It is a try to revive the economy.

The one-year lending rate will also be lowered from 6% to 5.6%.

The changes come into effect on Saturday.

The interest rate cut came after the recent weak economic data from China. China's HSBC preliminary manufacturing purchasing managers' index released on Thursday dropped 50.0 in November from 50.4 in October. A reading below 50.0 indicates contraction.

China's economic growth fell to a five-year low of 7.3% in the third quarter.