Data from the Chongqing Municipal Tax Service of the State Administration of Taxation indicate that last year, the municipality cut more than 35 billion yuan ($5.51 billion) in fees and taxes for local enterprises and postponed 1.58 billion yuan in tax payments for small and micro enterprises in the manufacturing sector.

A new round of tax refund policies will go into effect on April 1 for six major businesses, which is expected to further boost market confidence.

Gong Yilin, who operates a small restaurant in Yuzhong district, expressed her gratitude for the policies, saying the tax refund was a timely form of assistance for her business amid the uncertainties brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Her restaurant closed in 2020 due to a regional lockdown, but she still had to pay rent, a huge burden when she couldn't earn an income. Thanks to the tax refund policy targeting service and catering business operators, she saved about 50,000 yuan, which helped her resume operations.

She was just one of nearly 2,000 business operators who benefited from the policy, which partly explains the still booming catering industry in Chongqing that generated 195.3 billion yuan last year, a year-on-year increase of 28.5 percent, faster than the national average.

Last year, Chongqing also allowed enterprises to postpone their tax payments, especially before the Spring Festival. As an official from the Chongqing Municipal Tax Service of the State Administration of Taxation pointed out, expenditures for small and micro enterprises were on the rise before the festival, including those on raw materials, employees' salaries and year-end bonuses, rent and more.

According to companies that have applied for the tax postponement, the money was used to cover such spending and to purchase train tickets for employees so they could go see their families, and other forms of welfare to boost their wellbeing.

In addition, a value-added tax refund and export tax refund launched last year also eased capital turnover pressure on manufacturers.