SHENYANG, April 5-- Huo Chunlei, who runs a hotpot restaurant in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, said he did not lay off any of his staff, although the restaurant is having difficulties for reopening after two months of closure in China's nationwide measures of coronavirus control. A few weeks after Chinese provincial-regions with low risk of the novel coronavirus gradually resumed work and production, shops and eateries have reopened, and roads become bustling again, as hundreds of millions of people confined at home for weeks in compliance with epidemic prevention rules get back to a normal life. Huo's restaurant has been in operation for a week. Only half of the tables are filled at dinnertime. The revenue is barely enough to cover the expenses of the house rent and employee wages, he said. However, he said his business is able to survive because of the government's bailout policies. For example, the approval of deferred payment of social insurance premiums for his employees alone can save him 80,000 yuan (about 11,250 U.S. dollars) a month. "The staff are willing to stay, as we are all confident in tiding over the difficulties together," he said. The local governments at all levels have rolled out a slew of measures to shore up the catering business, including cutting taxes, reducing house rent as well as water and electricity fees. The governments in Liaoning, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces have issued coupons with a value ranging from 10 million yuan to 100 million yuan to encourage people to spend on dining out. |