At the State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on March 3, decisions were made to speed up resumption of logistics-related industries, including transportation and express delivery.

“The resumption and stable development of logistics-related industry cannot only support the epidemic prevention and control, but also guarantee orderly resumption of work and production across the country, accelerating economic operation and meeting the needs of people's lives," the Premier said.

"A major obstacle in current outbreak response and production resumption lies in logistics. Undue restrictions should be removed as quickly as possible.”

Government at all levels should treat express delivery enterprises of all ownerships as equals, to break the final obstacles to transportation and delivery in rural areas and communities, he added.

It was decided at the meeting that regions and government at different levels should take accurate measures to guide related enterprises to resume work in an orderly way, unreasonable approval for resumption should be canceled, and smart delivery facilities should be included in the construction of urban and rural public infrastructure.

The Premier also urged issuing a general guideline that for taxi drivers that encourages local governments to reduce or exempt their contributions during the outbreak.

According to the meeting, the policy of halving the tax on the use of urban land for bulk commodity storage, which was due at the end of last year, will continue.

From March 1 to June 30, port construction fees for import and export goods will be exempted, cargo port fees and port facility security fees will be reduced by 20 percent, and mandatory emergency response services and charges for non-tanker cargo ships will be canceled.

By the end of June, railway insurance, fees for delayed use of containers and detention of freight cars will be halved.

Charges for some government-managed airport services will be cut.

Transportation and logistics enterprises involved in emergency work during the epidemic prevention and control can get financial compensation if their services were purchased by the government.

Having heard that there are more than 3 million couriers and that masks are in short supply, Premier Li instructed related departments to speed up coordination and help meet their needs.

“The express delivery industry should be classified as a key industry for epidemic prevention and control and production resumption, and as such, epidemic prevention materials like masks must be ensured for couriers,” the Premier said.

The meeting decided to encourage insurance companies to lower or exempt premiums for commercial vehicles, ships and aircraft whose operations are suspended during the outbreak, by way of extending the insurance period and deduction of policy renewal fees.

For road operators encountering difficulty in repaying their financial debts as a result of the toll-free pass policy, financial institutions will be guided to defer interest payments, extend principal repayment, and roll over maturing loans.

“Such steps should enable truck and taxi drivers to get tangible benefits," Premier Li said.