Chinese authorities have intensified efforts to solve understaffing problems and cut operation costs for companies to revive the world's second largest economy that has been hammered by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a senior official said Thursday.
So far, local governments across the country have helped 9,138 key manufacturers recruit 370,000 workers, and arranged chartered trains, buses, and flights to bring more than 4.1 million migrant workers back to work to ease labor shortages, Li Zhong, vice minister of Human Resources and Social Security, told a press conference.
The government also slashed companies' operation costs by waiving social insurance payments and deferring the collection of housing provident funds. In February, companies nationwide were reduced or exempted from social security premiums totaling 123.9 billion yuan (about 17.7 billion U.S. dollars).
Medium-sized, small and micro businesses were the biggest beneficiary of such policies, with 94.2 billion yuan saved last month, while big enterprises benefited 20.9 billion yuan because of deduction and exemption in their social security payments, Li said.
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