Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the main pillar of national economy and play an important role in stabilizing growth, expanding employment, and boosting innovation. Meanwhile, SMEs have encountered various challenges due to the pandemic-induced shocks. How well are they recovering after the reopening? What is the outlook of their recovery? What are the impacts of the tax- and fee-cut policies adopted in recent years on the production, investment, financial structure and productivity of SMEs? How to optimize the tax- and fee- cut policies to bolster the development of SMEs?

On March 19, CF40 held its 401 biweekly roundtable to discuss the path of post-pandemic recovery and optimization of tax- and fee- cut policies for SMEs and to review the research project Optimization of the Tax- and Fee-Cut Policies to Boost the Development of SMEs.

The event kicked off with a keynote speech by Xie Guangqi, CF40 Guest Member and Deputy Director-General of the Monetary Policy Department of the People's Bank of China, who talked about the exploration of structural monetary policy to support SMEs.

Following the keynote speech was a presentation of the research project How to Optimize the Tax-and-Fee-Cut Policies to Boost the Development of SMEs by Lu Yi, CF40 Member and CITIC Chair Professor of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University.

Bai Chong-En, Member of CF40 Academic Committee and Dean of School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University, and Liu Shangxi, CF40 Member and Director of the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences, provided comments. The second half of the seminar featured a candid and informative roundtable discussion.

The event was moderated by CF40 Secretary-General Wang Haiming.