BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank suspended open market operations on Tuesday, citing abundant liquidity in the financial system.

"The relatively high liquidity level in the banking system can offset the impact from factors including maturing reverse repos," the People's Bank of China said on its website.

On Tuesday, 40 billion yuan (6.3 billion U.S. dollars) of reverse repos matured, meaning market liquidity dropped by the same amount.

A reverse repo is a process by which the central bank purchases securities from commercial banks through bidding, with an agreement to sell them back in the future.

On Tuesday's interbank market, the overnight Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate, which measures the cost at which banks lend to one another, fell by 0.3 basis points to 2.558 percent.

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