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March 25, 2020

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Home » District » Putuo

District helps companies back in business

Thanks to Putuo District government’s Herculean efforts, local clothing company Satchi managed to host its annual order meeting earlier this month despite the complications surrounding the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The order meeting is crucial for Satchi as over 95 percent of the company’s revenue comes from the session every year.

The meeting, delayed for a month due to the epidemic, helped reduce the loss of several hundred million yuan for the company.

The Putuo government, along with the Changshou Road Subdistrict, met at the Holiday Inn Shanghai Vista on Changshou Road, where the lease was reduced to 50,000 yuan (US$7,047) from 480,000 yuan following government negotiation. Full virus prevention measures were also conducted to ensure the safety of over 300 attendees.

“We’re now confident about the company’s performance for the coming year thanks to the successful meeting,” said Sheng Xuan, deputy general manager of the Putuo-based company.

Satchi later announced it would donate 1 million yuan to the Central Hospital of Wuhan, in central China’s Hubei Province, the heart of the outbreak in China.

Putuo has released a dozen supportive policies to help companies, especially the small and medium-sized enterprises, to get through the dark period of COVID-19.

After a month of implementation, the measures have helped companies resume operations while reducing losses.

As of March 23, all the industrial, foreign-invested, technological and high-technology enterprises have returned to work, while construction of all the 11 key city-level projects has resumed.

A special scheme in Putuo has played a key role in getting the economy back on the front foot.

District government officials visited 1,379 companies by March 23, including state-owned, foreign and private trade companies, and they resolved over 84 percent of their problems.

During the visits, officials implemented the government’s 28 coronavirus prevention measures and helped to guide companies through the hard period.

Officials also helped fast-track key construction projects and accelerated approvals.

Another focus of the district is to keep attracting investments and talent to nurture new industrial projects and foster economic growth.

A recent survey revealed the challenges companies have had to face. There was a shortage of anti-coronavirus materials and a lack of working capital as well as influence from other parts of the supply chains due to the epidemic, like logistics, labor forces and money.

To help solve these issues the district government reduced or exempted rent on business properties. Putuo’s nine state-owned enterprises have benefitted from a lease reduction of up to 310 million yuan.

The district’s state-owned assets supervision and administration commission has launched a hotline, manned with specialists, to inform eligible SMEs who qualify for rent reduction. So far, over 1,500 SMEs have enjoyed a lease cut of over 100 million yuan through the hotline.

Key shopping complexes in Putuo, such as the Global Harbor Mall, Red Star Macalline, Changfeng Joy City and Bailian Zhonghuan Shopping Mall, have reduced or exempted tenants’ rent by one to three months.

The district has also mediated with companies and banks to communicate better. Putuo’s banks have received demands from 218 companies totaling 2.09 billion yuan.

With government help, Kedu Healthcare Tech, a medical firm in Putuo, received a loan of 100 million yuan within a day. It relieved pressure on the company because it couldn’t collect debts due to the epidemic. The company received generous help because it donated over 600 pieces of medical equipment to Hubei totaling 3.5 million yuan.

The district government also ensured the supply of coronavirus protection materials to companies. Over 300 thermometers have been delivered to office buildings, while over 1.35 million masks and 20 tons of disinfectants have been purchased.

The district’s commission of commerce, for instance, bought 200,000 masks from across the nation for the first batch of Putuo-based companies to resume business. The commission later purchased another 600,000 masks from companies in neighboring Jiangsu Province and asked dealer companies in Putuo to buy another 500,000 masks mainly for SMEs in the district.




 

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