(Yicai Global) May 5 -- Large companies located in the Lingang Special Area of Shanghai’s free trade zone will fully resume operations and production by the middle of this month, according to an official.

Some 251 industrial firms already had resumed production in Lingang as of May 3, 52 percent of which were above a designated size, Wu Xiaohua, deputy-secretary of the Communist Party of China's Working Committee for the special area, said at a press conference yesterday. About 40,650 employees were living and working in so-called factory bubbles, he added.

On top of Shanghai government policies to expedite the return to work, Lingang will also step up its efforts to help resident businesses overcome the challenges they face in resuming operations and production. Lingang will use fiscal funds worth CNY80 million (USD12.1 million) to ease the pressures on firms above a designated size resulting from the recent Covid-19 outbreak, Wu said.

Moreover, state-owned enterprises will waive or lower rents for those companies that use their land in Lingang by CNY210 million (USD31.8 million) and hand out CNY30 million of subsidies to micro, small, and medium-sized firms and individual businesses renting non-state-owned premises, Wu said. Meanwhile, those firms in the retail, catering, tourism, and cold chain logistics sectors will receive subsidies to carry out Covid-19 testing and disinfection, he said.

State-backed SAIC Motor’s passenger vehicle plant in Lingang resumed production on April 18. The day after, Tesla’s gigafactory reopened and now has 8,000 workers on duty, reaching an output of about 1,200 units a day, Wu said.

Chinese power battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology and chipmaker Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment also got back to work, leading to more than 100 suppliers also resuming production, Wu noted.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione