Promoting the development of small and micro enterprises requires efforts to reduce costs
In recent years, rising costs have become an important factor affecting the development of small and micro enterprises. The important content of rising costs is the increase in raw material procurement costs, transportation costs, and sales costs. If personnel salaries are considered, the magnitude of cost increase will be even greater. Therefore, it is urgent to implement measures such as reducing taxes and fees for small and micro enterprises and lowering transportation costs as soon as possible to help their development——
In August 2018, the "Economic Daily China Postal Savings Bank Small and Micro Enterprise Operation Index" was 46.4, an increase of 0.1 points from the previous month. This is the first time since April this year that the overall operating index has rebounded after three consecutive months of decline. The rebound of the index may be attributed to the effects of government support policies for small and micro enterprises, but seasonal factors cannot be ruled out. From 2014 to August 2017, the overall operating indicators of small and micro enterprises have increased compared to July of that year. Therefore, further observation is needed on the future trend of small and micro economies.
From the perspective of macroeconomic operation, on the one hand, China's economy has maintained stable growth overall and presented positive changes in various aspects, including the continuous increase in the proportion of the service industry, which has driven employment and industrial structure optimization, and the continuous increase in the proportion of consumption to GDP. On the other hand, China's macroeconomy is also facing certain uncertainties, such as a slowdown in the growth rate of total retail sales of goods, rising financing costs for small and private enterprises, and ongoing trade frictions between China and the United States. The continued rapid development of small and micro economies depends on the alleviation of these issues.
From the perspective of industry indices, among the seven industries covered by the small and micro enterprise operation index, the accommodation and catering industry index has maintained an upward trend and accelerated to some extent; The indices of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, manufacturing, and service industries have declined to rise, indicating a favorable situation; The transportation and wholesale/retail industry indices maintain a downward trend, but the downward trend is gentle; Only the construction industry index has accelerated its decline.
Further analysis of the indices of various industries can help understand the current changes in the small and micro economy and predict future trends. The index structure of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, and service industries performed the best in August. Apart from the cost index, the market index, procurement index, expansion index, and performance index of the two industries all increased compared to the previous month. In the market index of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, with the increase of production, the main business income and factory price have both increased significantly, resulting in good performance indicators. The purchase volume of raw materials and new investment have also increased significantly, and it is expected that the index will continue to grow in the next period. Although the index of accommodation and catering industry continues to rise, the changes in procurement index and expansion index are both negative, indicating that the industry may lack growth momentum in the future. Although the manufacturing industry index changed from negative to positive in August, the main business income index, gross profit margin index, raw material procurement volume, and new investment all showed a certain degree of decline, indicating a decline in manufacturing profitability, weak growth, and an uncertain future direction for the index.
It should be noted that rising costs have become an important factor affecting the development of small and micro enterprises. Although the price index of production materials in China has continued to decline since April this year, except for the transportation, manufacturing, and construction industries, the procurement costs of raw materials in the other four industries have increased to varying degrees. The main reason for the increase in costs is the rise in raw material procurement costs, transportation costs, and sales costs. If personnel salaries are considered, the magnitude of the cost increase will be even greater. If these cost increases accelerate, it will further push up the cost pressure on small and micro enterprises. Therefore, it is urgent for governments at all levels to implement measures such as reducing taxes and fees for small and micro enterprises and lowering transportation costs as soon as possible, to ensure that the policies that have been introduced are implemented and effective, and to help the development of small and micro enterprises.
From the perspective of policy environment, on July 31st, the Central Politburo meeting emphasized the overall tone of seeking progress while maintaining stability in economic work, requiring stable employment, stable finance, stable foreign trade, stable foreign investment, stable investment, and stable expectations. On August 20th, the first meeting of the Leading Group for Promoting the Development of Small and Medium sized Enterprises of the State Council was held, further emphasizing the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises in achieving the above "six stabilizations", emphasizing equal treatment of large, medium and small enterprises, and focusing on creating an environment for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, including expanding financing channels for enterprises, doing a good job in tax reduction and financing guarantee, strengthening property rights protection and other specific matters. The central government attaches great importance to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, which undoubtedly accelerates the implementation of various support policies and is conducive to further improving the operational index of small and micro enterprises.
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