China’s central bank said the second phase of a cut in the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) freed about 100 billion yuan worth of long term funds.

In open market operations, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) also injected 150 billion yuan via 14-day reverse repos to “keep liquidity level stable at end-June”, the bank said.

The PBOC announced in May that it would implement a reduction of RRRs for some small- and medium-sized banks in three phases, as part of wider efforts to help companies weather a slowdown in the world’s second largest economy.