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Shanghai pledges tax cuts, government subsidies for ailing small businesses as city sharpens focus on economic recovery in 2023
- Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng on Sunday committed more economic sweeteners, such as tax cuts and government subsidies, to help the city’s small businesses
- That support is in line with the metropolis’ goal to achieve a gross domestic product growth rate of 5.5 per cent this year
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Daniel Renin Shanghai
Shanghai, the financial and commercial hub of China, has pledged to roll out more relief measures to support ailing small businesses hit hard by past pandemic curbs, as the metropolis pursues a consumption-led economic recovery this year.
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That commitment was made on Sunday by Mayor Gong Zheng, who said economic sweeteners like tax cuts and government subsidies are in the works in line with the city’s goal this year to achieve a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 5.5 per cent.
“Local companies are the cells of the Shanghai economy and they lay the foundation for economic growth,” Gong said at a press conference after the close of the Shanghai People’s Congress. “We are studying a series of policies to address the problems that local small firms now face, including difficulties in securing orders, accessing capital and managing raw material costs.”
His remarks come after the Shanghai municipal government last year slashed taxes by as much as 300 billion yuan (US$44.75 billion) to help the city’s 2.67 million companies, mostly small businesses, to survive stringent Covid-19 control measures enforced at the time.
Gong, who did not elaborate on the size of the city’s fresh incentives, said the details are yet to be drawn up by local authorities.
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