Backing Business

Government work report pledges to ramp up support for Chinese SMEs and micro enterprises

- Ge Lijun

When the outbreak of the corona-virus caused the city of Wuhan to go into lockdown in January, Fang Yan quickly realized that the situation was more serious than many people had thought. As a principal partner of the Beijing law firm JT&N, Fang did some research and found that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as micro enterprises were going to face unprecedented hardship during the coming epidemic.

Her research showed that the main challenges ahead were linked to loans, access to finance, taxes, fees, and high production costs.

According to Tianyancha, a Chinese big data company, the number of SMEs and micro enterprises in China currently stands at more than 80 million, which accounts for about 70 percent of the total number of companies in the country. They provide more than 80 percent of the jobs nationwide, mainly in the wholesale and retail trade, accommodation, food services and manufacturing, according to Yi Gang, Governor of the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank.

In this critical time, the Report on the Work of the Government, presented by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Third Session of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) on May 22, continued to broaden and extend support for SMEs and micro enterprises.

Sustainable support

On February 13, as a Deputy to the NPC, China’s parliament, Fang submitted a proposal to alleviate the challenges faced by SMEs and micro enterprises during and after the epidemic period.

“I have read the report by the premier and I believe that my proposal was adopted, including the tax reduction. I also put forward a proposal to grant another six months of preferential delay after the pandemic,” she told ChinAfrica.