Shanghai announced on Sunday further steps towards returning to more normal life and lifting a two-month Covid-19 lockdown this week, while Beijing reopened parts of its public transport, some malls, gyms and other venues as infections stabilised.

The Chinese commercial hub of 25 million aims to essentially end from Wednesday a lockdown that has severely damaged the economy and seen many Shanghai residents lose income, struggle to source food and cope mentally with prolonged isolation.

The painful coronavirus curbs in major Chinese cities run counter to trends seen in the rest of the world, which has largely...