The Chinese financial and manufacturing hub of Shanghai will gradually begin reopening businesses such as shopping malls and hair salons from Monday after weeks in a strict COVID-19 lockdown, the city's vice mayor told a media briefing on Sunday (May 15).

Shanghai, which has been locked-down for more than six weeks, is in the midst of a recent tightening in some areas that it hopes marks a final push in its battle with the virus.

Shopping malls, department stores, and supermarkets will begin resuming in-store operations and allow customers to shop in "an orderly way", while hair salons and vegetable markets will reopen with limited capacity, Vice Mayor Chen Tong said, but gave no specifics on the pace or extent of such reopenings.

During Shanghai's lockdown, residents have been mainly limited to purchasing necessities, with normal shopping on online platforms largely suspended.

Shanghai will also soon announce a third "white list", of more than 820 companies engaged in import and export, that can resume operations, a city official said.

Shanghai reported 1,203 new local asymptomatic coronavirus cases for May 14, down from 1,487 a day earlier. Confirmed symptomatic cases fell to 166, from 194 the previous day, data released on Sunday showed.

There were no cases found outside quarantined areas, after one had been reported a day earlier. The city reported three new COVID-19 related deaths, compared with one a day earlier./agencies