BEIJING - China will defer tax payment for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector to ease the impact of rising costs, a State Council executive meeting decided on Wednesday.

The decision would in effect defer around 200 billion yuan ($31.32 billion) of tax payment for manufacturing SMEs, the meeting said.

The meeting also decided to defer tax payment of around 17 billion yuan for coal-fired power companies and heating firms to ease their operating difficulties.