Located east of the Huangpu River, Shanghai's financial district Lujiazui is known as the financial hub of the city. With Shanghai lifting restrictions amid a decline in COVID-19 cases, financial workers have returned to their offices.

Foreign financial institution Standard Chartered opened its office in Lujiazui on June 1, the first day Shanghai lifted restrictions.

Kevin Yang, Regional General Manager of East China at Standard Chartered, said the first thing he did when he returned to the office was to make sure things went as planned.

"We target to open our outlet once the condition permits. [The first thing I did] on June 1 was to make sure all epidemic control and prevention measures [were] in place," said Yang.

So far, only some of Standard Chartered's branches have opened to the public, but the bank is expected to open all its branches in town after the Dragon Boat Festival holiday.

Meanwhile, domestic commercial bank Bank of Shanghai has also opened some of its branches. At its Pudong branch in Lujiazui, client flow jumped by three times on June 1.

"Most of our clients are ... middle-aged and ... elderly because we are one of the main banks that make pension fund payments in Shanghai. On the first working day after the outbreak, the bank handled more than 2,000 transactions for over 300 clients," said Assistant to the President of the Bank of Shanghai's Pudong Branch Tang Yi.

Shanghai's strict COVID-19 restrictions over the past two months created lots of challenges for businesses, including those in the finance sector.

Financial institutions have not been fully reopened as many of them are still making preparations. But some already have ongoing expansion plans.

Bank of Shanghai said it will issue more loans to small and micro businesses as Shanghai earlier launched 50 measures aiming to reactivate the city's economy.

Standard Chartered says it will expand its recruitment in China. Yang said Standard Chartered has already recruited some professionals via online interviews during Shanghai's closed-off management over the past two months.

"We are now expanding our team in (the Yangtze River Delta) area through recruiting more talent on board as soon as possible," said Yang.

Shanghai's Lujiazui is home to some 130 global headquarters. More than 40,000 companies with 500,000 employees are working to ensure the stable operation of China's financial sector. Shanghai Stock Exchange, Shanghai Commodity Exchange and financial institutions' China headquarters are all located in the area.

During the past two months, financial workers have either been sleeping in the offices or working from home. But with restrictions loosening, Lujiazui is expected to be back to full operations soon.