Shanghai rolls out policies to help SMEs

The municipal government of Shanghai pledged on Friday to cut at least 100 billion yuan ($14.3 billion) worth of expenditures for the city's small and medium-sized enterprises, as part of the latest push to help small business owners weather the COVID-19 storm.

The 22-point directive included measures such as fee exemption, capability-building and financing, Rong Zhiqin, vice-director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, said.

Under the latest policy, small and individual business owners will not have to pay value-added tax payment until the end of the year, whereas individual income tax declaration and payment for SME employees can be extended to early 2021.

Meanwhile, State-owned enterprises and organizations are exempted from three months' of rent for SMEs. Other perks such as reduced electricity and internet fees are also in place till the end of 2020.

The government aims to embark on a number of SME capacity-building endeavors, including the establishment of 10 enterprise development vehicles and organizing entrepreneur competitions to foster innovation. Through such efforts, the city is looking to recognize 5,000 SMEs as with leading technologies.

The municipality also promised to add 30 billion yuan worth of guaranteed loan for SMEs. Among them, 90 percent will ne given to credit-based loan issuance to ease the burden of SMEs, which typically lack collateral necessary for traditional obtaining loans.