To boost domestic demand, China began implementing tax cuts last year, including a reduction to individual income tax, a move that is considered major progress according to China’s top tax official.

From October 2018 to January 2019 this year, there has been a total individual income tax reduction of 200 billion yuan ($29.8 billion), Wang Jun, head of China’s State Taxation Administration, told reporters during the two sessions on March 12.

The income tax cut benefited 80 million people who no longer need to pay the tax and an additional 65 million people who now enjoy a 70 percent tax cut, he said, noting that salaried workers benefit the most.

Last year, China’s per capita disposable personal income grew by 6.5 percent in real terms. The threshold for individual income tax was raised and six special additional deductions created, including ones for child education and treatment for serious diseases.