What's the current situation about small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) amid nationwide work and production resumption? On the basis of a detailed survey, Ctrip Corporate Travel, a corporate travel management service provider, recently conducted a systematic review on the growing vitality of small and medium-sized enterprises over the past few months, releasing a report on the resumption of corporate travels for small and medium-sized businesses.

Specifically, Beijing-based enterprises are the top players in corporate travel consumption, with an average corporate travel consumption of 2,000 yuan, followed by Shenzhen-based enterprises and Guangzhou-based enterprises. In comparison, the average corporate travel consumption of Shanghai-based enterprises stood at about 1,500 yuan. However, Shanghai still ranked first in terms of total corporate travel consumption, followed by Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Tianjin, and Dongguan.

"At the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in China, the corporate travel market shrank by about 90%. However, since March, the corporate travel market began to turn around, and more and more corporate travels have been restarted. But, generally speaking, the resumption rate stands at 20% to 30% only", said Mr. Fang Jiqin, SVP of Ctrip Group and CEO of Ctrip Corporate Travel, adding that higher adaptability is required for enterprises to recover from the outbreak.

That kind of adaptability lies more in the higher flexibility and efficiency of small and medium-sized enterprises. According to data from Ctrip Corporate Travel, by far, the resumption rate of the total market turnover on small and medium-sized enterprises is 36%, outperforming the market.

"The manufacturing industry has been hit hard by the epidemic; of course, our company was not spared. The blocked personnel flow and logistics amid the outbreak suffocated the industrial chain, thus bringing down our profits," recalled Zheng Chuang, a corporate travel business head of an environmental engineering company in the manufacturing industry.

Starting in May, the situation began to look up, which is mostly reflected by the increasing number of corporate travels. "Due to previous epidemic control and flight cancellation, as well as a decrease in orders, our corporate travel was suspended. But since May, more and more companies have resumed their corporate travels, so I have the confidence that corporate travel will be back to normal next month," said Zheng.

With more and more SMEs, the most active and dynamic players in the social economy, expressing their corporate travel needs on the platform, obvious revitalization has been seen in all industrial lines of corporate travel.

As of the end of May, the domestic air ticket transaction volume increased by 128% month-on-month, train ticket transaction volume increased by 150% month-on-month, and the domestic hotel transaction volume also increased by 100% month-on-month, statistics compared with April shows.

The booking for corporate travel services reflected the accelerated work and production resumption of SMEs. According to the latest data from Ctrip Corporate Travel, in the last week, the total domestic air ticket transaction volume grew by 216% from last week, the domestic hotel transaction volume increased by 123%, and the vehicle service orders of them rose by two times.

SMEs function as an essential pillar to boost the national economy. Their recovery, inseparable from the support of national policies and the help of all walks of life, stimulates the power source of the national economy and awakens people's yearning for a better life.