By Ma Yuan, Xu Yingjie & Ma Shuping, Enterprise Research Institute, DRC

Research Report, No. 95, 2020 (Total 5839) 2020-5-6

Abstract: Enterprises are the cells of the economic system, and they are important carriers to ensure employment, supply and people’s livelihood. With COVID-19 epidemic spreading around the world, the economy is under great downward pressure, and uncertainties and destabilizing factors are on the rise, which have exerted a negative impact on domestic enterprise supply and market demand. At present, we need to focus on supporting enterprises to enhance their response capacity, including micro, small and medium-sized, enterprises in terms of scale, service trade relying on the volume of customers, export-oriented industries and industries with a heavy dependency on foreign trade in terms of industrial sectors, and regions that still maintain first-level response mechanism relating to epidemic prevention and control. The following policy options are proposed. We need to adhere to the general principle of “resuming production, expanding demand, stabilizing supply, and reducing costs” and focus on the four aspects of helping enterprises fight the epidemic and safely resume production, expanding domestic demand and stabilizing foreign trade, improving the integrity of industrial chain, and reducing enterprises’ costs of production and operation. We need to coordinate policy portfolio including finance, taxation and employment, strive to help enterprises overcome the difficulties induced by epidemic and consolidate and strengthen the momentum of recovery in the “post-epidemic” period.

Keywords: regular prevention and control measures against epidemic, phase in policy measures sector by sector, assist and support enterprises