BEIJING — China's top tax watchdog said on March 31 that the amount of the country's tax and fee cuts had topped 402.7 billion yuan (about $56.8 billion) in the first two months.

Of the total, the preferential tax and fee measures unveiled to support the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and economic development saved a total of 158.9 billion yuan, Wang Daoshu, an official with the State Taxation Administration, told a press conference.

The remaining 243.8 billion yuan of taxes and fees were reduced as a result of the implementation of a larger scale of tax and fee cut policies rolled out last year.

The amount of reduced taxes and fees is expected to further expand as new batches of policies aiming to alleviate the burdens of small firms and self-employed businesses were implemented starting from March, according to Wang.