Shanghai authorities will roll back several conditions for businesses to resume work from Wednesday, a city official said on Sunday, easing a citywide lockdown that began nearly two months ago, and easing its struggling economy. Will also offer policies to support.

China’s commercial hub Shanghai reported a sharp decline in its economy last month as the COVID-19 outbreak led to strict restrictions and lockdowns, affecting manufacturing, retailing and its real estate sectors.

Now, the city government will revise guidelines for epidemic prevention and control of return to work, roll back “unreasonable restrictions” on resuming work and production for businesses, and scrap its “whitelisting” system. Vice Mayor Wu Qing told a press briefing, referring to how he had earlier prioritized some companies in resuming work and releasing a list of names.

Businesses will also no longer need to apply to return to work from June 1, he said, adding that other restrictions have been lifted.

City officials also announced an action plan – made up of 50 policy measures – to stimulate the economy, aimed at helping businesses and boosting consumption. These include accelerating the issuance and use of local government bonds, asking banks to renew loans to small and medium-sized enterprises, and establishing a green channel for the approval of real estate projects.

The city will also cut certain passenger car purchase taxes to boost automobile consumption and increase the license plate quota for passenger cars to 40,000 this year. Shanghai issued 135,000 such license plates in 2021.

UK to strive for four-day work week

More than 3,000 people from 60 UK companies will take part in the six-month trial of a four-day work week. The pilot project – considered by far the largest in the world – aims to help businesses cut working hours without cutting wages or sacrificing revenue. Similar trials have also taken place in the United States and Canada. Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, program manager for 4 Day Week Global, said it would give businesses “more time” to deal with challenges. (agencies)

pounds back, ounces on the chart

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reportedly set to announce the return of the royal measurement of pounds and ounces as part of a post-Brexit move from the European metric system to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee next week. It is also being seen as an attempt to appease its Brexit voter base in the post-Covid lockdown party scandal in Downing Street. (PTI)