Zhoushan, a city in East China's Zhejiang province, recently unveiled a guideline to stabilize employment amid the COVID-19 epidemic. 

According to the guideline, which took effect earlier this month, enterprises involved in accommodation, catering, sports, entertainment, transportation, and tourism, as well as eligible small and micro-sized enterprises, will be exempt from property tax and urban land use tax in 2020. 

In addition, prices for gas, water, and electricity used by enterprises will be temporarily lowered throughout the course of the epidemic.

The policy of reducing unemployment and work-related injury insurance premium rates will also be extended to April 30, 2021. 

In addition, more incentives will be offered to support innovation and entrepreneurship in the city. For the first time, entrepreneurs hiring more than three employees will be entitled to loans of up to 600,000 yuan ($86,956.5) with discounted interest rates, according to the guideline. 

The document also stipulated that migrant workers who open businesses for the first time and operate normally for more than one year are eligible for a one-time subsidy of 4,000 yuan.

Efforts will also be made to encourage college students to work in Zhoushan. 

SMEs will be granted a one-time subsidy of 3,000 yuan to hire a new employee, and local public institutions and state-owned enterprises will be encouraged to hire more college graduates. The proportion of college graduates in positions at state-owned enterprises should be at least 50 percent, according to the guidelines.

Meanwhile, more support will be offered to unemployed people.

As of the end of June, a total of 9,204 new jobs had been created in urban areas of Zhoushan, with the unemployment rate sitting at 1.53 percent, lower than both the national and provincial averages, official data show.