BEIJING — China's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) showed stable development in the first seven months of the year, laying a solid foundation for the steady operation of the country's macroeconomy, official data showed on Aug 30.

The combined operating revenue of the country's major small and medium-sized industrial firms rose 8.1 percent year-on-year in the January-July period, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed.

The profits of these companies during the period were up 1.6 percent from a year earlier.

Preferential policies have been rolled out to ease the financial burden of smaller businesses and further boost their vitality.

In the first half, the country's micro, small and medium-sized enterprises received nearly 1.8 trillion yuan (about $261.62 billion) in tax-and-fee cuts and deferrals, as well as tax refunds, official data showed.

The ministry has published the list of the fourth batch of "little giant" companies, which contains more than 4,300 companies that represent the novel elites of China's SMEs that specialize in a niche market, boast cutting-edge technologies and show great potential.

Despite the impact of COVID-19, the average annual operating revenue growth of these companies logged a rapid increase of over 20 percent in the past two years, according to Liang Zhifeng, an official from the ministry.

Liang said the ministry will take further measures in the fields of funding, talent and technologies to create a better environment for the development of "little giant" firms.