Shanghai has introduced a slew of preferential policies to help enterprises affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to authorities from the Shanghai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau on Thursday.

Zhang Lan, deputy director of the bureau, said at a press meeting that small and medium-sized enterprises and individual businesses have been given exemptions to three kinds of social insurance -- pension, unemployment and work injury -- between February and June.

The cost of these social insurances for large companies was also halved between February and April. The measure is expected to help companies save about 53 billion yuan ($7.49 billion).

The government issued also one-time employment subsidies of 1,500 yuan and 800 yuan per employee for enterprises that have supported pandemic prevention and control measures and those that have been seriously affected by the pandemic respectively.

By the end of May, over 4,400 enterprises have applied for these subsidies, receiving a total payout of more than 293 million yuan.

According to officials, the city has taken the lead in the country in terms of offering subsidies to enterprises for online trainings during the pandemic. These subsidies covered 95 percent of the training cost and included a subsidy of up to 600 yuan per participant.

In addition, companies or individuals affected by the pandemic are permitted to pay their owed social insurance fees within three months of the conclusion of the pandemic without incurring a penalty. As of May, 47,000 companies in the city have applied for this benefit.

Authorities said the city will continue to reduce unemployment and work injury insurance rates until April 30, 2021.