China's central bank will cut the reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions by 0.5 percentage points from Feb. 5, said Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People's Bank of China, on Wednesday.

The move is expected to provide the market with long-term liquidity of some 1 trillion yuan (140.85 billion U.S. dollars), Pan said.

On Thursday, the central bank will reduce re-lending and re-discount interest rates for the rural sector and small businesses by 0.25 percentage points, amid efforts to promote moderate decrease of comprehensive financing costs, the governor added.