Business and markets will be restored in phases with strict disease containment measures put in place.

At the press conference on preventing and controlling COVID-19 in Shanghai on the morning of May 15, Mr. Chen Tong, Vice Mayor of Shanghai, briefed that Shanghai will promote vigorously the reopening of commercial business outlets and points of sale and return of necessity supply personnel after defining the goal of securing the basic supply and full coverage to ensure the basic life support and supply of daily necessities to our people. The commercial business outlets in operation have increased to 10,625 from less than 1,400 in the lowest point, and the orders of daily distribution have reached five milion.

In the principle that the city will be lifted from restrictions in an orderly manner with limited movement of people under effective disease control and the city placed under categorized management, Shanghai will restore business and markets in phases from May 16 while putting the disease control measures in place strictly.

(1) Commercial business outlets such as shopping malls, department stores, supermarkets, convenient stores and pharmacies will restore the off-line operation in an orderly manner step by step. These business outlets will designate entrance and exit passageways, limit the flow of people inside and provide the services combining on-line order placement and off-line delivery with off-line in-store purchase.  

(2) Farm trade and produce markets will restore business in an orderly mode. The wholesaling markets will start trade in the non-contact method, cease retailing business, control the proper number of people in the markets and customers coming to purchase, and implement disease prevention and control strictly for the incoming vehicles, drivers and passengers. Fresh produce markets will start centralized purchasing, restore off-line operation orderly and properly control the number of opening booths as well as the flow of consumers.

(3) Catering, haircut and dyeing services will be resumed gradually and orderly. Catering service will be available in the form of on-line and off-line takeout, while haircut and dyeing services will be provided for restricted numbers of customers coming in staggered time. It is required that before resuming the regular operation, commercial and trade enterprises should formulate their anti-COVID-19 plans, carry out preventive disinfection of their venues, fully apply venue code or “digital sentinel”, and put in place stringent measures to ensure strict entry, thorough cleaning and disinfection, management of their staff, restricted number of customers in venues, and verification of permits and code scanning. Customers are expected to comply with regulations on disease containment by taking personal protective measures, presenting health code and scanning venue code, and maintaining social distancing in the stores. We believe that as Shanghai's COVID-19 battle sees further progress, commercial and trade enterprises will make greater strides in their resumption of work and business. Therefore, citizens will have access to more and more business outlets, and enjoy more and better commercial services.

Currently, our city is at a critical point in the fight against COVID-19 before shifting from extraordinary emergency response to containment on a regular basis. At this moment, continuous efforts will be made to ensure the government’s guarantee and distribution of daily necessities in both lockdown and control zones. Each district will, in line with the goal of “securing the basic supply and full coverage” and the principle of achieving relative equilibrium, enhance the transparency of and predictability of supplying government issued packages in advance. The competent municipal authorities will impose basic requirements on the variety, distribution frequency and quality of those packages, while the market supervision departments will, by following the “the Four Strictest Requirements”, fully participate in the distribution of government packages, implement ex ante, ongoing and ex post supervision, and severely, strictly and rapidly crack down on any illegal activities related to food quality and safety. Citizens are also welcome to call 12315 to report such illegal activities.

Our fellow citizens, to guarantee the supply of daily necessities for 25 million people in Shanghai serves as the foundation of and key to winning the fight against COVID-19 to defend our city. Under the context of rigorous anti-disease measures, the city faces numerous difficulties and challenges to guarantee the supply of daily necessities. The people working on the front line, including couriers, have made strenuous efforts. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to them for working around the clock to ensure the supply. We also want to thank our fellow citizens for your understanding, tolerance and support of our supply work.

Translated from the text of Shanghai Fabu (Original text in Chinese prevails in case of discrepancies.)