By Feb 17, a total of 379 companies above designated size in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, had resumed work, 95 of which had already exceeded 50 percent of their production capacity.

96.6 percent of all companies above designated size in Zhoushan have now resumed operations, more than any other city in the province, according to a news conference on Feb 18.

Companies "above designated size" are industrial companies with an annual main business revenue of 20 million yuan ($2.84 million) or more.

The conference was held by the city's leading group on the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic.

According to the group's spokesmen, all companies above designated size in the counties of Daishan and Shengsi had already resumed production.

In recent days, the Zhoushan municipal government has established several groups to help with the work resumption of companies involved in ship production and repair, fishery products, petrochemicals, electronic information, and more industries.

The government has also implemented a series of preferential and supportive policies to help local companies, particularly providers of medical supplies, recover their productive capacity amid the outbreak of the virus.

The city currently has four face mask production companies, one of which has already resumed operations. The other three plan to open 10 production lines in late February.

The four companies are expected to be able to produce more than 500,000 face masks per day starting from the beginning of March, according to the city's bureau of industry and information technology.

Officials at the organizing committee of the Zhejiang Zhoushan Archipelago New Area Marine Industry Cluster Area attended the news conference and briefed attendees on the area's progress in restoring productivity.

By Feb 17, 3,531 workers in the cluster had returned to work, accounting for 46 percent of all workers in the area. Among them, 2,806 are locals and 725 are non-locals.

There are 13 key foreign trade companies and 95 companies above designated size in the area, all of which have resumed operations. A "key" foreign trade company is one with an annual export value of over 10 million yuan.