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Representatives from Jiaxing Municipal Bureau of Sports and Jiaxing branch of the Bank of China sign a cooperation agreement on March 16. [Photo/cnjxol.com]

At least 500 million yuan ($71.5 million) worth of loans is expected to be issued to sports companies in Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang province, to support their return to work, local media reported on March 16.

The news was released at a signing ceremony between Jiaxing Municipal Bureau of Sports and Jiaxing branch of the Bank of China.

The loans will be used to fund sports companies short of capital when resuming operations after the long suspension due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Sports companies which have been severely hit by the epidemic can defer their repayments and change the repayment arrangements.

Sports companies in dire need of capital can enjoy preferential services in loan acceptance and approval, and the Jiaxing bank will also streamline administrative procedures for them.

Jiaxing is home to more than 1,600 sports companies and among them, companies which manage fitness rooms, indoor swimming pools, indoor basketball gyms and train young students are all micro and small businesses with small amounts of capital and are therefore the most vulnerable during this epidemic, according to Wang Lei, head of Jiaxing Municipal Bureau of Sports.

She said that their cooperation with BOC aims to help these companies get through these difficult times.

"The loan really came in time," said Duan Xiaobo, general manager of Jiaxing Elephant Basketball Club, adding that given the company barely has any revenue during the epidemic, it is really hard for it to retain workers while paying them basic wages.

Elephant is dedicated to basketball training, but due to the epidemic it has had to canceled the winter camp training classes and refund all payments to clients, Duan said.

He also noted that their scheduled summer camp training classes have little chance of being organized according to the current epidemic situation.