China's islands and cities are battling COVID-19 outbreaks yet again. By the start of the week, there were at least nine cities and towns, with a combined population of about 7 million, said their residents must not leave where they live except for necessary reasons such as COVID tests, grocery shopping or essential job roles. They also suspended public transport services.

In recent trade, it has been reported that China's Sanya's cases are surging and the city of Yiwu has moved into lockdown. Meanwhile, China's capital Beijing and financial hub Shanghai reported zero new cases, local government data showed earlier this week. The southern technology hub of Shenzhen also recorded no new infections.