(ECNS) -- Shanghai plans to reduce more than 300 billion yuan ($44.9 billion) of the financial burden on market players in the full year due to the pandemic, said deputy secretary general of Shanghai's municipal government, Hua Yuan, at a press conference Sunday.
Shanghai launched an action plan to speed up economic recovery. The plan, an expansion of support measures rolled out at the end of March, is composed of 50 policies and measures, aiming to help enterprises and promote consumption to boost the economy.
The city will reduce or remove rental charges for small and medium-sized enterprises and individuals for six months. The rent reductions or exemptions are expected to reach 14 billion yuan, benefiting over 90,000 market players.
The city will also reduce property tax and urban land use tax for qualified enterprises. It will grant subsidies for non-resident users regarding water, electricity and natural gas fees.
Shanghai will also reduce some passenger car purchase taxes to spur auto consumption, and provide subsidies to consumers who replace cars with pure electric vehicles.
Businesses no longer need to apply for work resumption from June 1, Shanghai's Deputy Mayor Wu Qing told a press conference.
"The fundamentals of Shanghai's economic development have not changed, and the long-term positive trend of Shanghai's economy has not changed," said Wu, adding that the municipal government will do everything possible to help market players and revitalize the city's economy.
In early March, Shanghai witnessed a new wave of infections caused by Omicron variants. By mid-April, daily infections had leaped from single digits to over 27,000.
Shanghai has adhered to the dynamic zero-COVID approach to contain the fast spread, classifying the whole city into closed-off management areas, restrictive control areas, and prevention areas.
On May 17, the city announced it had cut off community transmission of COVID-19 in all of its 16 districts.
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