(Countering new crown pneumonia) epidemic causes nearly 60 million small stores in China to face difficulties in operation

China News Agency, Beijing, March 28 (Reporter Li Yanan) The State Council ’s Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism held a press conference on the 28th to introduce the work of restoring commodity circulation and commercial order. Wang Bin, head of the Consumer Promotion Department of the Ministry of Commerce, said that the new crown epidemic has caused nearly 60 million small stores in China to face operational difficulties. The Ministry of Commerce has joined the relevant departments to propose four measures to support it.

Wang Bin pointed out that the epidemic has greatly impacted distribution companies. In addition to daily necessities, sales in many categories have fallen sharply, and nearly 60 million small stores are facing operational difficulties. To this end, a series of policies have recently been introduced to assist enterprises in their rescue efforts, which mainly include four aspects:

The first aspect is fiscal and taxation. For all small-scale value-added taxpayers, reduce the value-added tax rate from March to May from 3% to 1%, and exempt small-scale taxpayers in Hubei from VAT; during the epidemic period, VAT is exempted from living services; Extend the carry-over period for the longest loss in the catering industry in 2020 from 5 to 8 years; increase the subsidy for vocational training; extend the tax declaration period and implement non-contact online tax administration.

The second aspect is social security policy. For Hubei enterprises, the three social insurance units from February to June are exempted from payment, and small and medium-sized enterprises outside Hubei are exempt from February to June from the pension, unemployment, and industrial injury insurance. Half collection of three social insurance premiums from February to April; Allowing enterprises in difficulty to apply for deferred payment of social security; Implementing a half reduction of the portion of the basic medical insurance unit payment for employees; Providing online employment and social security services for flexible employees .

The third aspect is financial policy. Provide special re-loans for key protection enterprises for epidemic prevention and control, and provide discounted interest support by the central government; extend or renew loans to companies that have difficulty repaying due to the impact of the epidemic; guide banks to reduce loan interest rates and reduce service fees; guide financial institutions to increase low interest rates Loans, targeted support for individual industrial and commercial households.

The fourth is to reduce costs. From February to June, the general industrial and commercial electricity prices have been reduced by 5%; early-season gas prices have been implemented; state-owned property rents have been reduced or exempted, and local governments have been encouraged to subsidize small- and medium-sized micro-enterprises and individual industrial and commercial owners of private houses and platform enterprises; Toll free during the road epidemic; allow enterprises in difficulty to apply for deferred payment of housing provident fund, and fully refund the union funds of small and micro enterprises.

In addition, Wang Bin introduced that a series of supporting policies have also been introduced successively in various places. For example, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, Beijing, Shanghai and other places have reduced the exemption of real estate tax and urban land use tax on difficult industries and small and micro enterprises. Small, medium and micro enterprises renting state-owned properties are exempt from rent, and small, medium and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households are exempted from sewage treatment fees and urban road occupation taxes.

It is reported that most enterprises have enjoyed or are applying to enjoy the policies and measures that have been issued to varying degrees. But Wang Bin pointed out that some intermediary organizations and enterprises report that there are still some problems in the implementation of the policy. For example, some industries and enterprises that are relatively affected have not been included in the scope of policy support, and some enterprises do not know enough about policies and are not familiar with online bidding procedures.

He said that the Ministry of Commerce will guide local governments to strengthen communication with relevant departments, promote better implementation of policies, strengthen policy presentation and interpretation with relevant departments, and do follow-up follow-up services; coordinate financial institutions to increase credit support and reduce corporate financing costs. ; Promote local reduction of enterprise rental costs; support localities with conditions to accelerate the construction of express delivery stations, standardized vegetable markets, chain convenience stores, parking lots and other convenient facilities in conjunction with the transformation of old urban communities to make up for the shortcomings of community consumption. (Finish)