Numerous supportive measures are bringing enterprises and projects across Zhuhai back to life after the corona virus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, it was announced at a Feb 25 online press conference on epidemic prevention and control.

As of noon Monday, 808 enterprises in Hengqin New Area had resumed operations, with 23,192 employees back to work. Thirty-two concerns are at construction sites, 49 engage in finance, 50 are Macao-funded, and 51 involve industry, trade, and hazardous chemicals. Catering, transport, retail, and pharmaceutical sectors are also revitalizing.

Yang Chuan, director of the Hengqin New Area Administrative Committee, said a series of measures including a risk compensation fund will help micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises get through difficulties.

Pang Qiancong, deputy head of Xiangzhou District, said 63.5 percent of 2,168 local enterprises and 91 percent of 367 industrial enterprises above designated size have reopened. All companies related to livelihood and anti-epidemic supplies are fully operational, and the entire number of enterprises above designated size will resume operations by April.

Migrant workers arrive via chartered transportation [Photo by Li Jianshu / WeChat account: zhtqb12345]

As of this week, 1,033 enterprises in the National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone (Tangjiawan) have resumed operations, of which 649 are industrial enterprises and 384 in the service sector. Eight of 36 provincial or municipal key projects have resumed construction. Subsidies and awards are available for work resumption, recruitment, and loans, according to Su Hu, director of the Hi-Tech Zone Administrative Committee.

Moreover, some 600 enterprises in the Zhuhai Free Trade Zone (FTZ, Zhuhai-Macao Cross-Border Industrial Zone) have revitalized, bringing 16,000 employees back on duty. Over 90 percent of industrial, service, and wholesale and retail enterprises above designated size have reopened. The production capacities of aviation, electronic information, biomedicine, commerce, and trade services are being restored. 

Medium and small-sized enterprises that lease State-owned properties will be exempted from rent for three months. Subsidies will be offered to companies that deploy newly recruited workers and pay their social insurance, or that lay off employees at a minimal level.

In the construction sector, 171 projects across the city have resumed construction. For now, work has resumed at 90 large or medium projects with floorage of more than 50,000 sq m (12 acres), while over 60 percent of such projects are expected to restart by next week and the other 40 percent by March 15, said Fang Xiaoyong, director of the Zhuhai Housing & Urban-Rural Planning & Construction Bureau.

As of Monday, 26 of the 28 enterprises with more than 2,000 employees each had resumed operations. In all, 91,555 (74 percent) of employees at these firms had returned to work. About 80 percent of employees at 71 key anti-epidemic supply manufacturers are also back on the job, noted Lao Zhiwei, director of the municipal Human Resources & Social Security Bureau.

For largely impacted sectors, the city will return tourist service quality deposits to travel agencies, while reducing taxes for taxi drivers and enterprises, according to Wang Lingping, director of the Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism & Sports Bureau, and Lin Yuehai, director of the Transport Bureau.