BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank Monday injected 502 billion yuan (about 74.3 billion U.S. dollars) into the market via the medium-term lending facility (MLF) to maintain liquidity.

The funds will mature in one year at an interest rate of 3.3 percent.

The MLF tool was introduced in 2014 to help commercial and policy banks maintain liquidity by allowing them to borrow from the central bank using securities as collateral.

The People's Bank of China increasingly relies on open-market operations, rather than changes in interest rates or reserve requirement ratios, to manage liquidity in a more flexible and targeted manner.

China will maintain a prudent and neutral monetary policy in 2018 as it strives to balance growth and risk prevention.