Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, has rolled out a series of policies to stabilize economic growth and minimize harm to enterprises in the wake of the epidemic.

The policies are expected to reduce financial burdens on local enterprises by 13.4 billion yuan ($2 billion), according to incomplete statistics.

Local authorities said at a press conference on March 2 that they will speed up the implementation of these policies, which are due to be implemented the following day, as well as streamline application procedures.

Employees who opt to return to Ningbo via second-class bullet train, coach, or boat will have 50 percent of their transportation fees covered by the government.

Their tickets should be submitted to their employers, who will be responsible for applying for the subsidies.

The city has also taken steps to solve problems related to children being left at home unattended after their parents return to work.

State-owned enterprises are encouraged to offer paid leave for parents so they can stay at home with their children.

If both husband and wife are employees of private enterprises and have already returned to work and their children are studying in Ningbo schools, they are eligible for a one-time subsidy of 500 yuan.

The application for the subsidy should be done by the wife’s company, except in the case of a single-parent household.

Meanwhile, in terms of subsidies to be offered to spur enterprises to ramp up employment, the applicants should have paid local social security premiums for 12 months or more.

After the first-level provincial epidemic response period ends, enterprises hiring more employees than they did during the same period of the previous year will be entitled to a subsidy of 500 yuan per person, with each company able to receive up to 300,000 yuan.

Human resource agencies which attract more than 50 employees to Ningbo between Jan 16 and three months after the end of the first-level provincial epidemic response period will also be able to apply for up to 500,000 yuan in subsidies.