As the novel coronavirus outbreak incurred unprecedented challenges for businesses, China has taken multi-pronged efforts to help enterprises overcome difficulties and enable them to assume a bigger role in leading innovation, stabilizing jobs and driving growth.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday chaired a symposium with entrepreneurs, urging further efforts to spur the vitality of market entities and motivating them to not only survive but also thrive.

The following are some highlights of his demands for stronger support for enterprises.

-- More proactive fiscal policies and more prudent and flexible monetary policies should be enforced to ensure macro policies are more targeted and timely.

-- China will continue with measures to cut taxes, fees, rents and interest rates to ensure the various aid measures reach the primary level and benefit market entities directly.

-- Efforts should be made to create a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment.

-- China will fully implement the negative list system for market access, enforce foreign investment law, widen market access, and promote facilitation of trade and investment.

-- A cordial and upright relationship between government and business should be fostered.

-- Great attention should be paid to the development of individually owned businesses, with more direct and effective policy support to actively help them overcome difficulties concerning rents, fees, taxes, social insurance and financing.

-- Entrepreneurs should improve their ability to stay on top of the trends and demand in the international market, to grasp international rules, to tap business opportunities and guard against risks in the international market so that their businesses will achieve better development with a higher level of opening up.

-- We shall stand on the correct side of history, stick to deepening reforms and opening up, enhance the opening up and cooperation in the sci-tech field, advance the development of an open world economy, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.