China to prioritize small businesses in tax rebates: Premier Li

China will give priority to small and micro enterprises in its tax rebates to help them navigate difficulties, Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday.

Small and micro firms are of a large amount and cover a wide range of sectors, helping create a great number of job opportunities, Li said, stressing many of them are financially strapped.

The country's goal is to refund all value-added tax (VAT) credits to these firms by the end of June, and complete the refund to key sectors, such as manufacturing and R&D-intensive service, within 2022, Li said.

Since the launch of the VAT reform in 2013, China has reduced taxes by 8.7 trillion yuan (US$137.4 billion), Li said.

Businesses have benefited from the tax refunds and fee cuts, which help create new sources of tax revenue and cultivate market entities, Li added.