BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank Wednesday injected 267.4 billion yuan (39.8 billion U.S. dollars) of funds into the market via the targeted medium-term lending facility (TMLF) to maintain liquidity.

The funds have a maximum maturity of three years and an annual interest rate of 3.15 percent, 15 basis points lower than the existing medium-term lending facility (MLF), the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said on its website.

The TMLF tool was introduced in December 2018 to encourage loans to small and private businesses. This is the second time the tool was used since the beginning of this year.

Large commercial banks, joint-stock banks and major city commercial banks that lend heavily to the real economy and meet macro prudent requirements can apply for the TMLF, according to the PBOC.