BEIJING - China's central bank injected 250 billion yuan ($36.7 billion) into the financial system via open market operations Friday to maintain stable liquidity.

The People's Bank of China pumped a net 290 billion yuan in cash into the market through reverse repos, offset by 40 billion yuan in maturing reverse repos.

The operations included 30 billion yuan of seven-day reverse repos, and 160 billion yuan of 14-day reverse repos, and 100 billion yuan of 28-day contracts, with the yield rates remaining the same as operations last time, according to a central bank statement.

The central bank has pumped 410 billion yuan into the financial system via open market tools this week, nearing a five-month high in an attempt to ease a seasonal liquidity strain.

China has set the tone of its monetary policy in 2017 as prudent and neutral, keeping an appropriate liquidity level but avoiding excessive liquidity injections.