BEIJING, Jan. 28 -- China's central bank on Tuesday said it will extend the closure of the interbank market and trading and clearing will be resumed on Feb. 3, as China has prolonged the Spring Festival holiday to contain the novel coronavirus epidemic.

It will involve the interbank lending market, interbank bond market, interbank foreign exchange market, gold market and bill market, said the People's Bank of China.

Considering the large scale of funds due after the opening of the market on Feb. 3, the central bank said it will use monetary policy tools such as open market operations to release sufficient liquidity to maintain reasonable and sufficient liquidity in the banking system.

The seven-day Spring Festival vacation, previously scheduled to end on Jan. 30, was extended to Feb. 2. Universities, primary and middle schools and kindergartens across the country will postpone the opening of the spring semester until further notice.