Jiangsu’s auditing authorities ensure relief measures implemented on the ground

2020-12-01 16:51:00

File photo/CFP

The Jiangsu Provincial Audit Department strengthened efforts to review the enforcement of series of supportive policy to cushion the blow from the COVID-19 pandemic from August to October.

Towards the province’s departments and local governments, auditing authorities made a careful examination of measures related to mitigate the burden on enterprises, financial support, and major projects.

As of the end of July, the province had reduced or waived electricity bills of companies of 7.28 billion yuan, and some cities also extended the support to cover water and gas bills by over 45.86 million yuan. Provincial departments cut or waived enterprise fees for testing and inspections totaling 64.58 million yuan and medical equipment product registration fees of 20.88 million yuan.

SMEs and self-employed businesses which have rented premises from state-owned facilities were exempt from paying rents totaling 2.76 billion yuan. Start-up hubs and large business buildings also benefited from a cut of rents of 94.19 million yuan.

Provincial financial subsidies to logistics firms, grain and cooking oil suppliers, projects involving nucleic acid testing reagents and vaccine research, and producers and importers of COVID-19 response items reached 170 million yuan. While local government support public transportation companies to overcome the difficulties, tax service companies had been urged to reduce or waive costs such as management fee. Provincial service platforms for enterprises also used Internet to offer online services, such as technical training, and helped more than 20,000 enterprises obtain

loans of 66.453 billion yuan. Over 1,200 enterprises also benefited from services such as instrument sharing.

The province will try to address problems found in the auditing process and promote the policy to really help market players hit by the pandemic.