BEIJING - China will expand tax breaks for small businesses in a move to reduce corporate burden and support economic growth, authorities said Wednesday.

From Jan 1, 2017 to Dec 31, 2019, small businesses with an annual taxable income of no more than 500,000 yuan ($73,599) will be eligible for tax preferences, raised from the previous limit of 300,000 yuan, according to a notice by the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation.

This is the third time that the tax break coverage is expanded since the beginning of 2015, when the income threshold for tax preferences was changed from 100,000 yuan to 200,000 yuan.

Small businesses that qualify will have their corporate income tax base halved, with a tax rate of 20 percent, the notice said. The standard corporate income tax rate stands at 25 percent.

China has moved to lighten the burden on businesses as its economy has lost steam. A government work report released in March promised around 350 billion yuan in corporate tax cuts and around 200 billion yuan in reductions to business fees in 2017.

Private firms, mostly small- and medium-sized businesses, generate about 60 percent of China's GDP and around 80 percent of the country's jobs.