On February 3, Yancheng City in Jiangsu Province announced 20 measures including financial support and cost cuts to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) affected by the coronavirus epidemic.
The 20 measures are as follows:
1) Organize financial institutions to compile a list of key SMEs to receive prioritized support, increase coordination and accelerate administrative approval for key companies engaged in the production, transportation and sales of protective suits, masks, goggles, and other medial materials and daily supplies, and provide preferential interest rate and customized financial services.
2) Ensure no malpractices in loan services to epidemic-affected companies that are engaged in wholesale, retail, accommodation, catering, logistics, transportation, culture and tourism, especially small and micro companies.
3) For SMEs that are engaged in key areas important to national economy and people's livelihood and face financial difficulties caused by the epidemic, the floating range of loan interest rates will be broadened by 10 percent, and the financing cost of small and micro companies in 2020 shall be no more than that of the same period in 2019.
4) Encourage banks to speed up the introduction of specialized financial services to small and micro enterprises and boost innovation in products and services.
5) SMEs that face difficulties in tax declaration due to the epidemic can choose to defer the declaration in accordance with the law.
6) SMEs which are in labor-intensive manufacturing, transportation, tourism, catering, retails and accommodation services and have suffered from serious losses due to the epidemic outbreak can apply the exemption of land use and real estate tax, if they face actual difficulties.
7) SMEs that face temporary difficulties in operation due to the epidemic and can’t pay insurance premiums can defer the payment of aged-care insurance, unemployment insurance and work injury insurance premiums by up to six months after getting the approval.
8) Establish a 600 million credit guarantee fund for SMEs and encourage financial institutions to provide loan of more than 4 billion yuan and raise guaranteed loan of more than 15 billion yuan.
9) Companies that are in the social insurance contribution scheme and also do not or slightly lay off employees are entitled to get the refund of 50 percent of the insurance premiums they paid in last year.
10) Encourage the city’s migrant workers to return and find local jobs, and help meet the needs of enterprises through Internet, job fairs and other measures.
11) For enterprises that expand production or carry out technological upgrade for the prevention and control of the epidemic, they can get a government subsidy of 10 percent of investment in adding equipment. The subsidy will be 15 percent for companies that renovate their workshops in order to shift the production from clothes to preventative materials for the prevention and control of the epidemic.
12) Government-funded interest discounts will be provided to service industries that have been greatly affected by the epidemic including catering, accommodation, tourism, trade and passenger transport.
13) Provide strong support to logistics enterprises that transport materials for epidemic prevention and control, and waive tolls for vehicles in such endeavors as well as transporting fresh agricultural products during the period.
14) Support feed processing enterprises to resume production as soon as possible, and reduce the losses of pig and poultry producers due to the interrupted supply and sales of feed.
15) Organize the development parks, authorities in economic management, finance and taxation, and commercial banks to contact and coordinate with 10,000 SMEs through telephone, video conference, WeChat, Internet, email, and visits.
16) Procurement priority will be given to products and services of SMEs affected by the epidemic, provided all other variables are the same. The government may appropriately increase the prices for supplies in the centralized procurement program.
17) Comprehensively sort out financial transactions with SMEs, speed up the payment due to them and ensure a full payment, or pay in advance according to the contract.
18) SMEs affected by the epidemic outbreak can also have their rent exempted in February, up to 100,000 yuan, if the property belongs to SOEs or is under government administration.
19) Subsidies will be provided to entrepreneurship parks, tech start-up zones and business incubators that reduce or exempt rent for SMEs in order to cover the costs in renovation, purchasing office supplies, property management and other efforts.
20) For companies that are listed as credit defaulters due to the failure to complete production orders or deliver on time because of the coronavirus epidemic, they will enjoy fast-tracked service to restore the reputation.
These measures will be valid for three months starting from the date of the release.
