Piano Land, the first luxury line operated by a Chinese cruise company, docks at its home port in Xiamen, East China's Fujian province. [Photo/Xinhua]

Local authorities in Xiamen, East China's Fujian province, have stepped up efforts to strike a balance between fighting the coronavirus epidemic and putting in place measures to revive the service sector, according to local media reports Feb 24.

To help the city's service sector resume production as soon as possible, the Xiamen government will prioritize support to the industries of foreign trade, conventions and exhibitions, tourism, logistics, and ports and shipping.

The government will provide assistance to foreign trade enterprises to hedge the adverse effects of the epidemic with favorable policies, and set up a special fund of 200,000 yuan ($28,895) to help small and medium-sized enterprises.

Innovative-driven development is being promoted in the logistics industry, and for enterprises promoting intelligent and automated transformation, the government will give a maximum reward of 5 million yuan.

The port economy has always played an important role in promoting Xiamen's economic growth, and the government has rolled out supportive measures, including expense deductions, to help port enterprises resume operations.

The above favorable policies will be valid to June 30.

For the tourism sector, the government has introduced customized services including recouping the loss of charter flights and returning security deposits to registered agencies, which will last until Dec 31.

Also, preferential policies were announced to help companies stabilize hiring and reduce taxation pressure with greater financial support.