Package of policies will help city recover

Shanghai has announced a number of supportive policies covering capital, land, talent and the business environment in the latest bid to revitalize its COVID-battered economy.

It vows to speed up the capital allocation for enterprises, optimize the use and assessment of special-purpose funds, and coordinate the use of subsidies for rent, loan interest, guarantee fees, and employment stabilization so as to help enterprises with operating difficulties, Shanghai Vice Mayor Wu Qing told a press conference held on Sunday afternoon.

Seamless loan renewals will be provided for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, initial public offerings are encouraged, and for privately-held companies, their bond financing trading fees will be exempted as much as possible.

To guarantee land supply, the city will start land transactions as soon as possible with an increased annual land supply plan.

Shanghai will make endeavours to stabilize employment, create more jobs, and provide more subsidies for vocational training. Supportive policies will also cover internship subsidies for college graduates and subsidies for job hunting and entrepreneurship.

Meanwhile, a variety of preferential measures, regarding residence permits and home purchases, will be introduced to further attract and retain talent.

One-time subsidies and gift packs will also be provided to those encountering living difficulties.

To further improve its business environment, a rapidly responding, problem-solving mechanism will be established to address the inquiries and needs of enterprises. A special action plan offering financial relief to market entities and improvement of the business environment will be carried out.

The city's one-stop, unified platform for government services, the Government Online-Offline Shanghai, will continue to improve its efficiency by handling more issues in an all-electronic approach.

In terms of government procurement, small and medium-sized enterprises will receive more support and the government will make more efforts to stabilize the development prospects of "platform" enterprises as well as those small and medium-sized firms growing along with them.