SHANGHAI, Sept. 6 -- CHINA'S central bank said today it will require commercial banks to set aside more money in reserves to curb excess liquidity, the seventh such increase this year as regulators continue their efforts to rein in investment.

The reserve ratio -- the amount of money a bank must deposit with the central bank -- will increase 0.5 percentage points to 12.5 percent on yuan deposits starting September 25, the People's Bank of China said on its Website this afternoon.