In line with the requirements of a State Council meeting held a day before, China's central bank said on Thursday that it will use monetary policy measures, including reduction in reserve requirement ratio (RRR) – the amount of cash banks must hold in reserves – in a timely manner to support the real economy.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) will keep liquidity reasonably ample, Sun Guofeng, head of the monetary policy department, said at a media briefing on Thursday, noting that the Chinese economy is under increasing downward pressure.

He also said the PBOC will speed up the creation of two new lending programs to fund banks for lending to technology businesses and the elderly care sector.

Due to the weakening demand, Zou Lan, head of the financial markets department, said that banks in more than 100 Chinese cities have lowered mortgage rates by 20 to 60 basis points since March.