PBoC keeps 7-day reverse repo operation volume at zero, while it injects CNY 349bln via overnight reverse repos

A zero print on the 7-day operation alongside a large overnight injection is a pattern the PBoC has used before: it rolls short-tenor liquidity daily to smooth money-market conditions while keeping the 7-day rate, its main policy signal, untouched. The operative distinction is between liquidity management and policy stance; substituting overnight for 7-day funds smooths seasonal or technical tightness, typically around tax dates, government bond issuance, or month-end, without conceding anything on the rate corridor. Overnight injections of this size have historically pointed to temporary funding pressure rather than a shift in stance, and the tell is whether the operations persist or lapse once the pressure passes. What separates signal from noise is whether the short rate drifts outside the corridor or stays pinned, and whether the 7-day operation returns at unchanged pricing on the next occasion. Net MLF and OMO flows over the following sessions, plus any comment on the funding backdrop, are the usual follow-ons. As an operation rather than a rate decision, the read-through is technical until the tenor mix says otherwise.