A staff member carrying sanitizing equipment walks past a closed cinema at a shopping mall, as the country is hit by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in Beijing, China Feb 3, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]

East China's Jiangsu province launched a fund to subsidize loans to film projects affected by the novel coronavirus epidemic, according to the local authorities.

The fund totaling 10 million yuan (about $1.4 million) will be used to subsidize interest payments for bank loans issued to film-related projects from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020. The projects cover film programs planned and recorded in Jiangsu, the construction and renovation of cinemas, studios and other facilities, and the post-production of films.

The province stressed that the amount of loans granted to film programs in 2020 shall not be less than that of the same period in 2019, and loans to epidemic-hit film enterprises with good business prospects shall not be suspended or withdrawn.

Jiangsu has over 900 cinemas with the box office exceeding 6 billion yuan in 2019. Since February, the province has rolled out a slew of measures including tax and rental reduction, financial support, and skill training subsidies to help film enterprises tide over during the epidemic.