BEIJING - China's combined tax and fee support policies have helped ease the burden on market entities and stabilize the macroeconomy, official data showed on Thursday.

The country's tax refunds, as well as tax and fee cuts and deferrals exceeded 3.4 trillion yuan ($478 billion) by Sept 20, Cai Zili, an official with the State Taxation Administration told a press conference.

The total consists of approximately 2.21 trillion yuan worth of value-added tax credits that had been refunded to taxpayers' accounts, 591.6 billion yuan of tax and fee cuts, and 632.6 billion yuan of deferred tax and fee payments.

"Multiple policy tools have been effectively combined, creating synergy and supporting efforts to bail out businesses in difficulty," said Cai.

Official data shows that China has deferred 525.6 billion yuan worth of taxes and fees for 3.05 million micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the manufacturing sector since the implementation of the tax and fee deferment policy.

It is estimated that the policy in general is expected to save over 20 billion yuan in financing costs for these companies.

Thursday's press conference also showed that China's accumulated export rebates and exemptions totaled 1.35 trillion yuan in the first eight months, playing a positive role in promoting the steady increase of the country's exports.