BEIJING, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- China continued to roll out policies and measures to facilitate the resumption of production affected by the novel coronavirus outbreak. The following are the latest ones:
-- Medical protective products
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) urged enterprises to resume work and production in a bid to increase supplies for virus prevention and control. The ministry has coordinated the supply of raw materials and key components for the production.
The Ministry of Finance asked local financial authorities to implement supportive policies including financial support, preferential tax rates and social insurance to help resume medical supplies production.
As of Feb. 10, more than 76 percent of mask production and 77 percent of protective suit production in 22 provincial-level regions had been resumed.
-- Farm produce
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs encouraged feed plants, slaughterhouses and animal product processors to resume production and supported manufacturers of agricultural materials to maximize production capacity in order to increase market supply and ensure the needs of spring plowing.
By Feb. 10, 94.6 percent of the country's major grain production and processing firms had resumed production.
-- Energy
The National Energy Administration encouraged coal mines to resume production and stressed the granting of incentives to support coal transport and prioritizing energy supply for designated medical institutions, producers of key supplies for epidemic control, as well as hotels and communities designated as quarantine sites.
Nearly 58 percent of coal mines had resumed production as of Monday while the supply of electricity, natural gas and refined oil is sufficient.
-- Daily necessities
The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) supported the resumption of business in wholesale markets, supermarkets, convenience stores and community grocers to ensure the supply of life necessities.
Fifty big wholesale markets of agricultural products supervised by the ministry had all opened for business, and over 92 percent of more than 7,000 supermarket outlets in 34 large and medium-sized cities across the country had also resumed operation by Monday.
-- Courier service
The State Post Bureau urged courier companies to restore over 40 percent of their normal handling capacity in the middle of this month and continue to increase their handling capacity according to the development of the epidemic outbreak.
China's major courier firms started to resume operation Monday.
-- Transportation
The Ministry of Transport urged to ensure smooth traffic flow across the nation, strengthen traffic diversion and control and ensure the transportation of medical supplies and life necessities.
The networks of rail, aviation and waterway transportation are all in normal operation. Inter-provincial and inter-city transport in some provinces have gradually resumed operation, along with urban public transport services.
-- Assisting SMEs
The MIIT urged local governments to reduce or waive taxes and administrative fees on certain small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and increase subsidies to corporate training programs while encouraging financial institutions to lower loan interest rates and fees on financial guarantees.
SMEs will also be provided with supplies of raw material and virus-control equipment and extended payment deadlines for electricity and gas bills.
-- Foreign-funded firms
The MOC 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.
Local authorities should meet the demand of those producing epidemic prevention materials, support large foreign investment projects and facilitate the introduction of foreign investment and capital.
