TWO of China’s biggest online used car trading platforms are putting workers on leave or cutting staff salaries as the coronavirus epidemic dries up sales, the companies said.

Uxin Ltd., the country’s largest online used car trading platform, said in a statement Monday it was using both strategies as part of efforts to control its budget and cash flow.

The company said it would not lay off staff but expected business in the first and second quarter to be “affected by varying degrees.”

Chehaoduo, another online car dealer which secured US$1.5 billion in funding from SoftBank’s Vision Fund last year, is cutting staff salaries by different degrees in February and March.

Chehaoduo, which operates used car trading website Guazi.com and new car sales platform Maodou.com, said in a statement that it expected the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on car consumption to be temporary but it was trying to cut costs by various methods, such as temporary salary adjustments.

It added it would increase its activity on livestreaming platforms to try to boost sales.

China is bracing for a big hit to its economy, President Xi Jinping has said, but policymakers have pledged to prevent large-scale layoffs, telling local governments to help stabilize jobs by drawing on unemployment insurance and similar funds.

Average daily used car sales plunged by 70 percent in the last week of February compared with a year earlier, preliminary data from China’s Automobile Dealers Association, showed Monday. (SD-Agencies)