China's central bank on Friday announced a second cut this year of its reserve requirement ratio (RRR), or the amount of cash that banks must hold in reserve, which will release around 500 billion yuan (US$70 billion) in long-term liquidity to shore up the economy.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) confirmed the widely expected 0.25 percentage point reduction will take place on December 5 in a bid to help coronavirus-hit sectors.

In confirming the change, which lowers the weighted average ratio for financial institutions to 7.8 per cent, the PBOC said that it will step up implementation of prudent monetary policy, while also keeping liquidity reasonable ample.