Beijing - The People's Bank of China cut key interest rates on Saturday, reducing its benchmark one-year lending rate by 0.25%, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.
One-year lending rates dropped to 5.35%t, and one-year deposit rates were lowered by 0.25 percentage point to 2.5%.
It is the second time in three months that the Chinese central bank has reduced interest rates as leaders in the world's second-largest economy try to reverse the country's economic slowdown.
Earlier in February the minimum level of reserves banks are required to hold was cut, effectively increasing the liquidity of the credit market.
China's economy grew last year by 7.4%, the weakest growth in 24 years, according to official figures released last month.