COVID-19 containment measures are gradually being lifted in China, but that's after months of strict social distancing policies. Two foreign small businesses in China have shared with CGTN how they have managed through the crisis. 

The first is a Belgian bar started by a Belgian and a French two years ago. It is seeing a lot more customers now after the city has reported no new cases of coronavirus for around three weeks. But it wasn't easy surviving the past three months. Even though it never closed, strict rules of only two people per table and 15 people in the restaurant at the same time was tough on business.  

General Manager Clement Rol said they were assessing the situation every two weeks, cutting costs, and redoing the menu. There were a lot of uncertainties for the past few months and no one knew when it would end. 

Now there are more people out and about, things are starting to turn around. But businesses are still not fully back to normal.  

"We are allowed to have a bit more people inside. It's now about 25-30 people (inside), and we could have three to four people [at the same table]. But it's not as good as before. But I think Beijing has got this under control from what I've seen around, and everything will get back to normal quite soon, in the next two weeks," Rol told CGTN.

Besides restaurants and bars, the entertainment industry is also heavily hit by the pandemic, including sporting events, fashion shows, and concerts. Companies broadcasting these events are also struggling.  

Sahil Chugani, partner at China Television Service, said that the business impact as a result of all live events being canceled has been huge this quarter, and they have tried to build on as many positives as possible.  

In situations like these, companies have to rethink their revenue models and go back to the drawing board when it comes to profitability to survive. The silver lining is that it pushes small companies to innovate further. 

Another big challenge for foreign companies is that many of their key staff members are still abroad and cannot return to China due to the travel ban.  

Chugani is now stuck in Hong Kong and cannot return to the Chinese mainland. He said it has been quite challenging to manage the company remotely. His business partner is now in Germany, and other colleagues are in Malaysia and Australia. They are eager to see "these travel bans being lifted so they can finally return home."

Looking ahead, Chugani believed that businesses will return to normal fairly quickly.  

"As we enter May, we are seeing a gradual pickup in client activity, which has been very encouraging for us as CTVS. We do believe it will be a very busy second half of this year as we return back to normality before we enter 2021. We are really looking forward to returning home, and see our business come back and continue to grow further," he said.