(Yicai Global) March 29 -- Shanghai will further reduce taxes for companies and waive rents for those small and individual-run businesses that rent government-owned properties, in a bid to help them get through the difficulties posed by the latest wave of Covid-19 which has seen a two-phase, nine-day lockdown imposed on the city.

Shanghai will reduce taxes for enterprises by about CNY140 billion (USD22 billion) this year, Ruan Qing, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, said at a press conference today.

The measures, which are effective from yesterday to the end of the year, include large-scale value-added tax refunds, phased VAT exemptions for small taxpayers and further cuts to income tax rates for micro and small firms, according to a document released by the Shanghai government today.

Those micro, small and individually-run businesses that rent state-owned offices will be exempt from paying rent for three months, the report said. Businesses that are in locations classified as medium to high-risk, and those that are seriously affected by the pandemic, will be exempt for an additional three months.

Shanghai, which reported 96 locally transmitted Covid-19 cases and 4,381 asymptomatic infections yesterday, will strengthen financial support to self-employed individuals, small businesses and those seriously impacted by the pandemic in the form of more loans at better rates, the report said.

Shanghai will bear all the Covid-19 testing costs of employees in the catering, retail, airport, port and cold-chain logistics sectors, it said. It will issue temporary subsidies for those working in the pandemic frontline. And it will provide special funds for the research and development of Covid-19 vaccines, testing reagents and drugs, it added.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor