Taxation officials in Ningbo explain the new tax policies to a visitor. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

Ningbo slashed taxes and fees by 24.34 billion yuan ($3.53 billion) in the first eight months of this year, according to statistics recently released by local taxation authorities. 

Among these cuts, 16.13 billion yuan were in accordance with preferential policies rolled out by the local government this year to stimulate the local economy amid the COVID-19 epidemic.

Local enterprises benefited a lot from these preferential policies.

Feng Xuemei, CFO of Ningbo Spey Scientific Cylinder Co Ltd, revealed that her company has been exempt from more than 6.7 million yuan in taxes and fees so far this year, and that the saved money has been used to improve treatment of employees, as well as for research and development.

The company's revenue has increased 18.4 percent year-on-year and 112 additional employees began receiving the company's social security benefits, according to Feng.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 epidemic, local authorities have formulated a series of policies to reduce burdens on local enterprises, greatly boosting their confidence.

Taxpayers in the city are now able to apply for tax refunds online, and nearly 6.1 billion yuan in taxes have been refunded so far through online applications.