China's central bank will inject 1.2 trillion yuan ($173 billion) into the financial markets on Monday, the first trading day after the Lunar New Year holidays which have been disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak.

The move is supposed to prevent unexpected market fluctuations and ensure ample liquidity, the People’s Bank of China said on Sunday.

The PBOC will release the funds through reverse repo, an open market operation where the central bank buys securities from financial institutions.

After the open market operation, the liquidity level in the banking system will increase by 900 billion yuan year-on-year, according to the PBOC.