By the end of October, Zhejiang province had reduced the financial burden on business entities by a collective 285.57 billion yuan ($39.98 billion), exceeding the annual target ahead of schedule, according to the Economy and Information Technology Department of Zhejiang.

This year, the tax and finance departments have accelerated the implementation of policies such as income tax benefits for small, low-profit enterprises and individually owned businesses, contributing the bulk of the reduction in financial burdens.

Zhejiang has also been working on decreasing production and operating costs for enterprises.

To cut down on labor costs, the Human Resources and Social Security Department has implemented policies on reducing the unemployment insurance rate in stages.

Relevant departments have also conducted phased preferential policies for the electricity consumption of small and micro enterprises and individually owned businesses with voltage levels less than 1 kV.

From January to October, the electricity price for industry and commerce was 0.79 yuan/kWh, a year-on-year decrease of 0.01 yuan/kWh.

In addition, the Department of Transport has promoted preferential policies for trucks on state-owned highway sections and international standard container vehicles to lower logistics costs.

Furthermore, the People's Bank of China and other relevant departments have used a variety of financial instruments to reduce financing costs.

From January to October, the average interest rate of enterprise loans was 4.03 percent, down 37 basis points year-on-year.

In the first ten months of this year, Zhejiang held 217 supply-demand matching events involving 25,700 enterprises, 152.7 billion yuan in orders, 110.8 billion yuan in financing, 8,433 professionals, and 585 industrial projects.

Zhejiang has taken the reduction of financial burdens on enterprises as a way to accelerate new-type industrialization and will continue working to reduce such burdens, lower costs, and protect the environment, said an official from the Economy and Information Technology Department of Zhejiang.