BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's policymakers have rolled out a raft of measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, while helping virus-striken firms.

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

-- Rolling out fiscal funds, tax exemption

China had allocated 80.55 billion yuan (about 11.53 billion U.S. dollars) of fiscal funds as of Thursday to support the nationwide battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak, according to the Ministry of Finance.

As of Thursday, 41 billion yuan had been spent, said Fu Jinling, an official with the ministry, adding that a supervision system was introduced to track the fund flow to ensure targeted support for those in need.

China's tax watchdog has unveiled a guideline on Tuesday to reduce financial pressure in key sectors amid the battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The guideline, involving 12 detailed items, came after a string of tax policies rolled out last week to support epidemic prevention and control, supplies, donation and work resumption.

-- Targeted financing support

China has set up a green channel for payment and clearing businesses to ensure the timely transfer of money amid the fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak, a central bank official said Saturday.

During the Jan. 24-Feb. 14 period, a total of 393,500 payment transactions were handled through the high-value and micropayment systems of the central bank, involving an amount of 77.37 trillion yuan (about 11.06 trillion U.S. dollars), said Fan Yifei, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, at a press conference.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce urged officials to help foreign-funded companies resume production and operation in an orderly manner by improving the business environment and reducing the burden of the companies.

-- Ensuring transportation

China's Ministry of Transport released a circular Tuesday to ensure safe and smooth transportation for migrant workers returning to work amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Transport departments at all levels were urged to go all-out and provide safe transportation for migrant workers in an effort to meet the labor demand of enterprises as they resumed production, the circular said. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)