Policies being rolled out by North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region -- in response to the needs of companies resuming operations and production as the novel coronavirus outbreak recedes -- have taken effect, according to local officials.

They said that in the wake of the outbreak, the region’s government successively issued three policy documents, designed to reduce financial pressure on businesses.

Statistics from the autonomous region showed that in the first half of the year, the accumulated funds channeled by the local government towards various types of exemptions on taxes and fees totaled 2.72 billion yuan ($389.96 million), and the costs saved by enterprises reached 4.91 billion yuan.

Meanwhile, Inner Mongolia provided more than 2.1 billion yuan in loans to companies from January to June.

Officials said it contributed to the acceleration of the resumption of work and production for small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as the restoration of normal economic and social order.

Meanwhile, officials said that the improved business environment brought about by implementing the policies encouraged more companies to start businesses in the autonomous region. 

Data showed that in the first half of the year, the autonomous region's private economic market entities reached 2.14 million, a year-on-year increase of 19.4 percent and their growth rate was 0.2 percentage points faster than all market players. 

Officials said these private entities accounted for 97.3 percent of all market players, an increase of 11 percentage points year-on-year.

They said that it was particularly noteworthy that in the first half of the year, Inner Mongolia's private economy created 55 percent of the autonomous region’s GDP and provided 91.4 percent of total retail sales.