BEIJING/SHANGHAI (BLOOMBERG) - China reported fewer Covid-19 cases in Beijing and Shanghai for Sunday (May 29), with the authorities moving to stimulate the faltering economy by easing some of the strictest virus controls since the outbreak was first detected more than two years ago.

In the capital, cases fell to 12 on Sunday from 21 on Saturday. Curbs on movement in several districts started to be loosened on Sunday after the authorities said the outbreak was under control.

The easing caseload has eased concern that Beijing could have been headed for a lockdown when it was reporting several dozen cases a day earlier in the outbreak despite increasingly strict restrictions.

In Shanghai, cases dropped to 67 for Sunday from 122 on Saturday. The financial hub on Sunday rolled out a raft of measures to support the lockdown-hit economy, including allowing all manufacturing to restart from Wednesday.

In other moves, the city will accelerate approvals for property projects, and the quota for car ownership this year will be increased by 40,000. A purchase tax for some passenger vehicles will be reduced and subsidies will be given to buyers of electric cars.

Covid-19 test requirements will be loosened for people entering public places from June 1 as the city tries to restore a sense of normality after a two-month lockdown of its population of 25 million people.

China's adherence to its Covid-19-zero policy at all costs - epitomised by Shanghai's lockdown, and restrictions imposed elsewhere in the country - has slowed everything from consumer spending to manufacturing in the world's second-largest economy. The curbs confined millions of people to their apartments or residential compounds.

In Beijing, streets were busier on Monday as residents who were previously required to work from home were allowed to return to work.

The districts of Fangshan and Shunyi ended work-from-home rules, while public transport largely resumed in the two districts as well as in Chaoyang, the city's largest. Chaoyang is also home to Beijing's central business district, most foreign embassies and expatriates.

Libraries, museums, theatres and gyms were allowed to reopen on Sunday, though with limits on numbers of people, in districts that have seen no community Covid-19 cases for seven consecutive days. Still, restaurant dining is banned throughout the city.