BEIJING, July 5 (Xinhua) -- China's policymakers have rolled out a raft of measures over the past week to shore up the economy and mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic.
The following are the latest policies taken during the period:
-- China's top economic planner has allocated 1.05 billion yuan (about 148.6 million U.S. dollars) to support the high-quality development of the Xiongan New Area.
The fund will be invested into major projects related to sanitation, infrastructure construction and ecological protection in the area, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.
-- China will focus on improving financial services to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in an effort to ensure their sound development, according to a State Council executive meeting on Wednesday.
The meeting, presided over by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, said that special local government bonds will be allowed to appropriately support small and medium-sized banks in replenishing capital.
-- The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, has decided to lower refinancing and rediscount interest rates.
With effect from Wednesday, it will lower the interest rates of reloans supporting agriculture and small firms by 0.25 percentage points, while lowering rediscount rates by 0.25 percentage points to 2 percent.
The country will pursue a prudent monetary policy in a more flexible and appropriate way, and put boosting the real economy and sustainable development at a more prominent position, the bank said.
-- Chinese authorities have rolled out preferential income tax plans for companies and individuals in the southern island province of Hainan to build it into a globally influential free trade port.
According to a circular jointly issued by the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration, corporate income tax rates will be lowered to 15 percent for Hainan-registered eligible companies in certain industries. Enditem
