Beijing micro, small cultural firms get a helping hand

During the novel coronavirus outbreak, Beijing State-owned Cultural Assets Administration Center of the People's Government of Beijing Municipality -- also known as the SOCAAC -- lent a helping hand to the city's micro and small cultural firms.

Officials said it has stepped up the implementation of the "Fangzutong" policy, increased support and actively helped cultural enterprises through the hard times.

To date, the first batch of 926 cultural enterprises has received rent assistance, with the amount of support reaching more than 96 million yuan ($13.55 million).

According to local media reports, last year the city officially released the list of first batch of 33 Beijing cultural and creative industrial parks.

Among these enterprises that obtained Fangzutong financial support, 280 enterprises have settled in these municipal-level industrial parks, obtaining support funding of nearly 40 million yuan.

According to SOCAAC officials, the office rent costs of small and micro cultural enterprises accounts for more than 30 percent of total operating costs -- exceeding the spend for recruitment and research and development.

They said it was the first time in China that this kind of support policy -- specifically for the office rent of cultural small and micro start-ups -- was issued.

The policy is not only inclusive, but also focuses on giving priority to supporting enterprises settled in the Cultural Industry Park, striving to help businesses reduce costs and promote industrial optimization and agglomeration.

To date, the online system for the policy has had 1.78 million hits and its WeChat public account has topped 120,000 times’ views, while the number of telephone call consultations has reached nearly 10,000.

Officials said Beijing will continue to allocate 40 million yuan in special funds for Fangzutong. In the near future, SOCAAC will launch the second batch of fund applications and reviews, focusing on supporting small and micro cultural enterprises greatly affected by the COVID-19 epidemic.

In order to increase the support for these enterprises, the Beijing cultural reform and development office formulated and distributed the trial Fangzutong or rent subsidy support measures on Dec 23 last year.

They focused on reducing the burden on small and micro cultural enterprises and promoting industrial development.