BEIJING - China's small and micro enterprises saved 24 billion yuan ($3.92 billion) in the first quarter of 2015 due to preferential tax policies, the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) said on Monday.

Statistics from SAT showed that a total of 2.16 million small and micro firms enjoyed a 50-percent cut in income tax, resulting in savings of 5.1 billion yuan.

The State Council announced in February that, from this year through the end of 2017, companies with annual taxable income under 200,000 yuan ($32,573) will have their corporate tax halved. Previously, the threshold was 100,000 yuan.

Value added tax and business tax cuts resulted in more than 18.9 billion yuan in savings for 27 million small and micro firms due to a temporary suspension for some firms with monthly revenues under 30,000 yuan. The policy is effective from October 2014 to the end of 2015.

Previously, the threshold for the policy was 20,000 yuan.

China has expanded preferential tax policies for small companies and reduced their tax burden to boost economic growth and employment. Nearly 80 percent of urban jobs are provided by small companies.