The first tranche of construction projects in Shanghai have been given permission to start working, after Covid-19 lockdowns.

The local government have signed off 24 construction projects, including data centers and a semiconductor manufacturing plant.

Among the projects are data centers for Alibaba and Tencent and a wafer production line for semiconductor manufacturer Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC).

The Shanghai Pudong International Airport's third-phase expansion project and WuXi Biologics' biopharmaceutical research and development center are also on the list.

Operations and businesses are slowly returning after aggressive pandemic lockdown measures that saw people taken to quarantine centers or barricaded into their homes for weeks.

In the Lin-gang Special Area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, 251 enterprises have resumed operations as of May 3. About 40,000 employees work at the plants under closed-loop management.

Further enterprises and construction projects are expected to resume in phases.