Optics Valley of China and representatives from the Hubei branch of CCB get together after the signing on March 27. [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley of China]

The signing ceremony for a plan to support companies getting back to work and production was held at East Lake High-tech Development Zone -- also known as Optics Valley of China in Wuhan, the capital of Central China's Hubei province -- with the attendance of zone staff and representatives from the Hubei branch of China Construction Bank, or CCB, on March 27.

The plan is intended to serve 600 enterprises located at Optics Valley, with a credit line of not less than 10 billion yuan ($1.41 billion), to support the return to work by resident businesses and help promote economic and social development.

According to the WeChat account of Optics Valley of China, the plan is the first pilot project in Hubei province launched in cooperation with the CCB head office's 'financial cabin construction plan'.

It aims to help enterprises suffering from temporary difficulties due to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, through cooperation between the bank and the government.

Zone officials said that it and CCB's Hubei branch will establish a master list of enterprises and provide special preferential policies for them in terms of the approval process, amount of credit, interest rate levels, repayments of principal and interest.

In addition, the two sides established a cooperative consultation mechanism to promote the implementation of the plan to achieve faster results.

CCB Hubei branch is the first State-owned bank to establish a secondary institution in the zone. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, it has provided credit support and loan extensions for resident companies totaling 2.47 billion yuan.

Officials said it has made important contributions to the prevention and control of the epidemic and the resumption of production in the zone.