China’s central bank acted shortly after news that officials from China and the Trump administration will hold their first formal trade talks since the punishing tariffs began.

China has announced a barrage of measures meant to counter the blow to its economy from U.S. President Donald Trump ’s trade war, as the two sides prepare for talks later this week. Beijing’s central bank governor and other top financial officials outlined plans to cut interest rates and reduce bank reserve requirements to help free up more funding for lending.

People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng announced Wednesday that the lending rate to commercial banks would be reduced by 0.25 percentage points to 1.5%. The central bank also reduced the reserve ratio — the amount of money banks must hold in their reserves.