China's new tax cut policies saved 341.1 billion yuan (around 50 billion U.S. dollars) for businesses and individuals in the first quarter of the year, an official said.

The bulk of the reduction, more than 265 billion yuan, came from measures effective since the middle of 2018, including reforms in the individual income tax and the lowering of value-added tax rates, Cai Zili with the State Taxation Administration said Tuesday at a press conference.

Measures rolled out this year, including tax breaks for small and micro firms and a further deduction of individual income tax, led to around 72.2 billion yuan of tax reduction, Cai said.