The People's Bank of China set the auction yield of its one-year bills in its regular open-market operations on Tuesday at 2.7221 percent from last week's 2.6167 percent, the third straight week the auctioned bill yield has risen moderately. The move is expected to curb the ample market liquidity. The level has approached the one-year benchmark deposit rate of 2.75 percent.

On the same day, the PBOC surprisingly offered 6 billion yuan of 14-day repurchase agreements at 2.05 percent, reaching a new high in terms of volume since May 2010.

The move underpins the central bank's determination to take loans control as its top priority in the first quarter, although there is a stronger demand for money during the Spring Festival.

China's business press carried the story above on Wednesday. China.org.cn has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.