China has announced plans to ease restrictions on bank lending to help shore up slowing economic growth.
The People's Bank of China said in a brief statement that it would reduce banks' reserve ratio by 0.5 percentage points, effectively increasing the amount of money they can lend.
The move is the latest in a gradual series of steps by the Chinese authorities to roll back controls imposed over the past two years to cool an overheated economy and ease inflation.
Chinese leaders worry that a fall in global export demand could cause the economy to slow too abruptly.
