Quzhou exempts local companies from 1.2b yuan in expenses

Quzhou in East China's Zhejiang province has exempted local companies from more than 1.2 billion yuan ($169 million) worth of expenses to date, local media reported on March 18.

These expenses include 167 million yuan in taxes, 304 million yuan in social insurance premiums, guarantee deposits, and government procurement bid bonds, 38 million yuan in rent, and 143 million yuan in interest on loans.

Companies are expected to be exempted from another three billion yuan worth of expenses in the near future as the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak continues, including 500 billion yuan in taxes, 1.6 billion yuan in social insurance premiums, 12.8 million yuan in guarantee deposits, and 118 million yuan in water, electricity and natural gas bills, among others.

In addition, the Quzhou government has also taken other measures to help local companies resume operations amid the epidemic.

Quzhou has retrieved 2,787 migrant workers via four chartered trains and 2,124 migrant workers via chartered buses.

An online platform was launched by local municipal and county authorities to further streamline administrative services and free local companies from the need to visit government offices. The platform has issued 70.34 million yuan in financial support to local companies.

The Quzhou government also dispatched 2,098 staff members to listen to problems encountered by local companies in resuming operations. They recorded a total of 4,065 such problems, 2,900 of which have been solved.