The provincial government of Jiangsu released 42 measures in 12 fields on January 16 to support enterprises faced with difficulties and boost economic recovery.

Shen Jianrong, Party chief of the province's Development and Reform Commission, said the measures cover tax and fee cuts, logistics costs reduction, stable and healthy development of the real estate market, production and R&D of anti-epidemic medicines and equipment, and improvement of the public health system.

Amid efforts to help companies affected by COVID-19, Jiangsu introduced preferential policies such as reductions of real-estate tax and urban land use tax. In March 2020, the two taxes were waived for four hardest-hit sectors, i.e., hospitality, culture/sports/entertainment, transport, and tourism. Then in 2022, Jiangsu extended the policy to also cover retail and storage sectors valid for one year.

According to an official of the province's Department of Finance, about 240,000 taxpayers in the six sectors were exempted from paying tax of 8 billion yuan in total, more than 30,000 yuan on average.

A survey among nearly 1,000 enterprises, from the large to micro firms, showed they highly recognized the exemption of the two taxes and thought the policy streamlined the businesses in a very positive way, according to the official.

The new measures include an extension of the policy for six more months, which will lead to a tax reduction of an estimated 4 billion yuan for market players.

The new measures also focus on restoring and expanding consumption. Zhou Xiaoyang, deputy director of the province's Department of Commerce, said Jiangsu will make concerted efforts from the supply and demand sides to accelerate the construction of a modern commercial distribution system and also spur the consumer spending.

Jiangsu will earmark 700 million yuan to support a stable growth and improved quality of foreign trade. This includes encouraging enterprises to participate in more than 100 industry events online and offline and helping them cover the cost for exhibit transport and business travel.

In addition, Xu Jun, deputy director of the province's Department of Industry and Information Technology, said Jiangsu will promote the intelligent and digital transformation at about 10,000 industrial enterprises above designated size.