Jiangsu Province rolled out 30 relief measures on September 7 to help businesses hit by the recent COVID-19 outbreak.

The measures aim to reduce the burden of enterprises, maintain stable employment and ensure supply of goods related to people's livelihoods.

The province makes it a priority to increase fiscal and tax support, such as deferring tax treatment and granting exemptions of property tax and urban land use tax in the third quarter for companies in accommodation, catering, cultural, sports, transportation and tourism industries in Nanjing. Business in the pandemic-hit Yangzhou City enjoyed more tax relief measures.

To further reduce taxes and fees, SMEs that specialize in the service industry and lease the state-owned assets in the province will be exempted from rent for three months at most. Financial institutes should not limit, rescind or reduce loans to industries affected considerably by the epidemic, such as wholesale and retail trade, accommodation and catering. Enterprises that have difficulty in making payment due may be granted extension or renewal.

Qian Dongping, deputy head of the province’s Financial Supervision Administration, said banks in Yangzhou issued loans totaling 7 billion yuan to 6,337 companies from August 1 to 22. Banks extend loans with a principal value of about 1.95 billion yuan and renewed loans of 412 million yuan.

Jiangsu will allocate 367 million yuan to support enterprises to implement vocational upskilling, with a priority given to industries badly hit by the pandemic, such as accommodation, catering, wholesale and retail, cultural, tourism and transportation. The province’s subsidy of 1.84 billion yuan has benefited 2.87 million training opportunities so far this year.

According to the measures, Jiangsu also slashes social insurance contributions paid by enterprises in Nanjing and Yangzhou.

The province will earmark 30 million yuan from the business development funds to guarantee the supply of daily necessities in the province, especially in areas hit hard by the pandemic, including 10 million yuan to Nanjing and 15 million yuan to Yangzhou.

In addition, 528 promotional events will be held to stimulate consumption in key areas such as bulk commodity, catering and rural areas. These events will take the form of online shopping festivals, an expo of time-honored brands in Jiangsu, and marketing efforts by e-commerce platforms in the countryside.