The Harbin municipal government holds a press conference on May 16 to introduce its newly-launched 32 preferential policies. [Photo/Harbin Daily]

Harbin, the capital city of China's northernmost Heilongjiang province, launched 32 new policies on May 12 to support the healthy development of market entities and restore their confidence and vitality in response to the negative impact of COVID-19.
 
The policies follow two documents released in December 2021 and March this year.
 
The new policies concern tax reductions and exemptions, financial support, industrial production and income increases, consumer market recovery, service quality and efficiency improvement, science, education, pension assistance, and cultural, tourism and transportation recovery.
 
The implementation of the first two policy documents has led to 230 million yuan ($34.51 million) in housing rent reductions for various market entities, 120 million yuan in unemployment insurance refunds, 170 million yuan in deferred payments of medical insurance premiums, and 10.72 million yuan in special equipment supervision and inspection service fees.
 
They also have reduced gas bills by 140 million yuan, water bills by 30.81 million yuan, and electricity bills by 86.78 million yuan for market entities.
 
The newly-launched policies have four main characteristics:
 
First, they involve more investment than previous policies. Harbin will allocate 1.55 billion yuan in funds to further increase its efforts to help enterprises in the fields of finance, industry, consumption, and society.
 
This is expected to reduce taxes by 4 billion yuan for various market entities in the city, and reduce, eliminate, or postpone the payment of related expenses by 2.81 billion yuan.
 
They are also more targeted than previous policies. For individual questions in the fields of manufacturing, catering, retail, cultural tourism, transportation, scientific and technological education, and elderly care, targeted support measures were proposed in detail.
 
The new policies are also windering in terms of their coverage. The agriculture, technology, sports, and entertainment industries will be included within the scope of the policies when it comes to loan guarantee support for stabilizing employment.
 
Small, medium and micro-sized enterprises will also qualify for deferred payment of electricity bills, and more than 600,000 market entities are expected to benefit.
 
Fourth, cashing out is easier than in the past. For the first time, the implementation rules and application guidelines corresponding to the policies will be uniformly released to make the process easier.