The country's top industry regulator has unveiled new measures, including financial support, to encourage small－and medium-sized enterprises to resume production as early as possible.
The move is part of China's broader efforts to maintain economic stability and help companies weather temporary difficulties caused by the novel coronavirus epidemic.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in its latest notice that it will spare no efforts to help companies resume production after the Lunar New Year holiday. A string of 20 measures have been unveiled to support SMEs and help boost their innovation capabilities.
On the premise of ensuring employees' health, companies are encouraged to start normal operations. One of the top priorities is to implement favorable tax policies designed for crucial medical equipment makers, the ministry said.
The ministry also said it has encouraged local governments to roll out their own favorable fiscal policies to support SMEs. Also, more efforts will be made to help SMEs better apply for loans from banks and adopt cutting-edge technologies to advance digital transformation.
A number of Chinese companies have already resumed normal operations. To maintain stability and promote healthy economic development amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, measures have already been taken to facilitate work resumption in different places in China.
China has stepped up efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, aims to finish testing all suspected cases of novel coronavirus infection in the city by Feb 11. All of the city's 1,499 confirmed cases in severe condition had been hospitalized by the noon of Feb 10.
In the meantime, China is working hard to increase medical supplies and daily necessities and is calling on more companies to return to full production after the holiday as part of its broader drive to fight the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak.
The country announced on Feb 9 it has enacted a State procurement, collection and storage policy for urgently needed medical supplies.
According to a notice released by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the country will help solve practical difficulties such as funding and production sites to encourage related enterprises to speed up production.
To shore up the domestic supply of daily necessities and urgently needed goods to deal with the outbreak, the Ministry of Commerce has advised areas less affected by the epidemic to expand various forms of businesses, including on-and offline businesses.
(Source:ourjiangsu.com)
