SHANGHAI, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai's retail sales soared 41.3 percent in March from a month ago, offering some relief to businesses as the city's consumption is gradually recovering, official data showed Thursday.

Almost all supermarkets, food markets and convenience stores in Shanghai have reopened, and the rate of resumption of work of logistics industry and shopping centers has reached 100 percent, local authorities said during a briefing on the city's commerce and investment.

Shanghai's shopping malls and catering industry revealed a sign of recovery over the past month, with their average daily turnovers returning to 56 percent and 78 percent of normal levels, respectively.

A series of measures have been taken by the municipal government to reduce enterprises' financial burden and help their operation return to the level before the coronavirus outbreak, with foreign enterprises treated on an equal footing.

Companies in Shanghai are expected to see financial cost this year reduced by 100 billion yuan (about 14.2 billion U.S. dollars) in total thanks to policies such as reducing or exempting social security premiums.

Shanghai continued to be a popular destination for foreign investment despite the coronavirus, with foreign capital inflows climbing 4.5 percent year on year to about 4.67 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of this year.

The city is also mulling a raft of new measures to further benefit foreign enterprises, focusing on expanding opening-up, improving investment convenience and enhancing protection for foreign investment. Enditem

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