This move comes at a challenging time for the world's second-largest economy, grappling with various obstacles such as an extended crisis in the property sector, subdued domestic consumption, and diminishing foreign demand.

“People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng said at a press conference of the State Council Information Office on January 24 that the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) will be lowered by 0.5 percentage points on February 5,” state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The move, the AFP report said would provide “1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) of liquidity to the market”, it added.

China last cut its RRR in September, lowering it by 0.25 percentage points to around 7.4 per cent.

The central bank’s governor also said Wednesday that more policies to offer support for the country’s struggling property sector will be announced tomorrow.