Shanghai said on Friday it aims to reach zero-COVID status by mid-May.

While the daily case count in Shanghai still fluctuates, the overall trend is steady and improving, local officials said, noting that over 99 percent of the positive cases were found in communities under closed-off management.

The eastern Chinese city reported 227 symptomatic cases and 1,869 asymptomatic cases on Thursday, a slight rise from the previous day but a sharp contrast to just half a month ago when daily cases still stood at over 10,000.

Shanghai's goal is to reclassify communities on the basis of risk levels in the coming days.

The Chinese financial hub is also ramping up its effort to help companies reopen. As of Friday, over 70 percent of the more than 3,000 companies prioritized to reopen have already done so.

Three Chinese carmakers and Tesla have resumed work at full capacity in Shanghai, while semiconductor manufacturers have been keeping capacity at above 90 percent.