SHANGHAI (Reuters – Shanghai authorities have announced that they will lift many conditions for companies to resume work on Wednesday. The announcement came after a two month-long city lockdown. They will also implement policies to help the economy.

China’s financial hub Shanghai saw a sharp decline in its economy due to COVID-19 epidemics. This led to tight restrictions and lockdowns that impacted manufacturing, retail sales, and the property sector.

The city government is revising its guidelines on epidemic prevention and control, and will remove “unreasonable restraints” on the resumption or production of enterprises, Vice Mayor Wu Qing stated at a press briefing. Wu Qing was referring to the list of businesses that can resume work.

Officials from the city stated that the economic measures were designed to encourage consumption and help businesses. These include asking banks for renewal loans to small and medium-sized businesses, and speeding up the issuance of and use local government bonds. They also establish a channel for approvals for real estate projects.

To encourage auto use, the city will reduce certain passenger car purchase taxes and raise the number of passenger vehicle license plates by 40,000. In 2021, Shanghai issued 135,000 such plates.

Hua, deputy secretary-general of Shanghai’s municipal governments, claimed that all these actions, along with those taken at March’s end, will reduce the financial burden by over 300 billion yuan.

Wu stated, “In summary, we will try our best to assist all types of enterprises…and work together to revive and revitalize Shanghai’s economy.”

“The pandemic was a huge impact on Shanghai’s economy and society. “The long-term trend for Shanghai’s economic growth has not changed.”