With the COVID situation easing in Shanghai, some shopping malls in the city center have re-opened.

One of them is the Bund Finance Center in the city's Huangpu District, right along the iconic Bund area. The shopping mall re-opened on May 23 and more than 50 stores have been back on business.

Yang Gengyu, who runs a bookstore in the mall, said most customers to his store are residents of nearby communities as the city has not yet entirely lifted restrictions on closed-off and controlled areas.

"We have 50 to 60 customers a day. It's not like before the outbreak but demand is gradually growing," said Yang.

Shanghai's Commerce Commission said starting June 1, all the shopping malls in the city are allowed to open offline.

So far, the number of stores that have opened at BFC only accounts for some 25 percent of the total. Zhao Dan, CEO of the shopping mall, said it's also preparing for the full recovery.

"The shopping mall will enforce strict virus prevention measures and we will also give notice to our stores. We hope some 200 stores in our mall will resume offline operations in the beginning of June," says Zhao.

Other downtown shopping malls such as Global Harbor and Plaza 66 have also opened offline.

At the current moment, customers need to provide negative COVID test results taken within the past 48 hours to get in. But that requirement is expected to be loosened to 72 hours starting June 1.

Shanghai local authorities said at the press conference on Sunday morning that starting June 1, residents need to show negative COVID results that done within 72 hours to take public transportation or go to public areas.