BEIJING — China's top tax authority said the country's tax and fee cuts totaled over 1.5 trillion yuan (about $216 billion) in the first half of the year.

Of the total, the preferential tax and fee measures unveiled in 2020 to support economic development and COVID-19 containment saved a total of 894.1 billion yuan, according to the State Taxation Administration.

The remaining 610.4 billion yuan of taxes and fees were reduced as a result of the implementation of large-scale tax and fee cut policies rolled out last year.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, China has unveiled a slew of new tax and fee relief measures to alleviate the burdens on market entities.

Taxation services are also improving, as corporate taxpayers can currently handle more than 90 percent of tax-related business online, according to the administration.