Weekly policy snapshot of Chinese economy

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, February 8, 2020
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BEIJING, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's policymakers have rolled out a raft of measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), while helping those affected by the epidemic.

The following are the latest policies and measures taken during the past week:

-- Rolling out subsidies, tax exemption, preferential loans

The Ministry of Finance said Friday that as of 5 p.m. on Thursday, all levels of government had allocated 66.74 billion yuan (9.56 billion U.S. dollars) for the prevention and control of the epidemic.

The ministry also unveiled a policy for the government to subsidize the personal treatment costs incurred by those with confirmed cases of the virus and pay allowances to medical staff working on the frontlines of epidemic control.

The State Council, China's cabinet, on Wednesday released tax exemption and loan policies to strengthen novel coronavirus containment and better meet the demand for medical supplies and life necessities.

As provisional policies beginning from Jan. 1, enterprises producing key supplies will be able to get their taxes on facilities payments for expanding production capacity deducted in full on a one-time basis.

-- Increasing financial support

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) added a total of 1.7 trillion yuan into the banking system this week via reverse repurchase agreements (repos) and lowered the repo rates by 10 basis points.

The central bank has provided relending funds of 300 billion yuan to national banks and local banks in the worst-hit regions, which will then grant credit support at favorable interest rates to key manufacturers of medical supplies and daily necessities.

Pan Gongsheng, vice governor of the central bank, said Friday that the PBOC will continue to use policy tools such as targeted reduction of the reserve requirement ratios, re-lending and rediscount to provide further support for the economy.

The central bank will take measures to support financial institutions in issuing various financial bonds to aid the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Meanwhile, it will set up a green channel for institutions with their raised funds being mainly used for epidemic prevention and control.

-- Expanding imports

China will expand imports of medical supplies and basic goods to ensure domestic supply, according to a circular unveiled by the Ministry of Commerce Tuesday.

More efforts will be made in coordination and communication to increase imports of medical supplies and raw materials for production.

The country will actively use imports to increase the supply of meat and other farm produce in the domestic market, the circular said.

-- Ensuring power supply

China will step up efforts to secure the power supply of medical institutions, quarantine areas and firms making or transporting medical supplies to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Power suppliers are required to take measures, such as equipping emergency power sources and strengthening electrical maintenance, to provide special support for important users. Enditem

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