Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, recently unveiled 18 measures to help local small and medium-sized enterprises deal with the novel coronavirus outbreak, according to local media reports.

The measures are aimed at supporting SMEs by reducing loan burdens, rent, and social security payments. More than 270,000 companies are expected to benefit.

The city has taken the national lead in temporarily lowering social security premium rates, and the floating standard is equivalent to the amount of social insurance premiums paid by an enterprise over the course of two months.

All small and micro businesses will be entitled to an interest-free loan of up to one million yuan over the next three months.

The city will also extend its tax collection deadline for companies to Feb 24, and companies that can't pay on time can apply for a deferment of up to three months.

SMEs leasing Sate-owned property in Ningbo will have their rents waived for two months.

In addition, the city will return half of all unemployment insurance premiums paid in the previous year to employers that do not lay off workers.

The local government will also ramp up financial support for enterprises producing protective materials to help fight against the epidemic by offering them government subsidiaries of up to 30 million yuan.

Meanwhile, more efforts will be made to enhance government services for enterprises to allow them to operate normally.