More than 30 entrepreneurs in the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone have qualified for a hefty income tax cut thanks to a recent tax policy.

The policy was officially announced by the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation on March 27, allowing 127 industries and businesses in five main categories to be levied at a reduced income tax rate of 15 percent from the previous 25 percent.

As many as 127 industries and businesses in the five main sectors of public facilities management, eco-environment protection, agricultural and marine industries, the service sector, and high-tech industries comply with the policy.

Fujian Shanshui Mapping Geographic Information became the first among the 30 beneficiaries of the policy on April 3, with an exemption of more than 6,000 yuan ($966) in income tax for the first quarter.

Established in Pingtan in 2012, the company engages mainly in topographical mapping, geographic information research, and the production of related software and applications, which conforms to the high-tech category on the tax list.

Zhang Hui, assistant to the general manager of the company, expected the policy will save the company nearly 500,000 yuan in income tax in 2014.

The company's tax deduction has marked the official implementation of the new tax policy in Pingtan, according to Li Jiaxing, director of the tax office of the local tax bureau.

The tax bureau carried out a preliminary screening on enterprises that applied income tax breaks following the policy and decided that only a few more than 30 enterprises were qualified.

Those qualified enterprises will have to register for the record at the local tax bureau before receiving approved tax breaks.

Li expected a surge in the number of companies coming for record registration in the coming days.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Michael Thai