(Bloomberg) -- Traders, bankers and fund managers in Shanghai are gradually returning to their offices after being confined to their homes for more than two months as the financial hub officially ended a city-wide lockdown.

Shanghai Tower, the world’s second tallest building, reopened Wednesday following a mid-March closing to allow tenants, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., to resume working in offices, according to a notice posted on its social media account. The Shanghai International Finance Centre in Lujiazui financial area, which hosts firms including HSBC Holdings Plc, also opened to workers who can show a negative Covid test result within the past 72 hours, according to a notice seen by Bloomberg.

The financial hub is now allowing most of its 25 million residents to move about freely and has scrapped previously issued white lists for work resumption as Covid infections have trended lower. Infections on Tuesday dropped to the fewest in almost three months.

The development came just days after Shanghai published a white list for some 864 financial entities to resume on-site operations under closed-loop arrangements. Prior to that, hundreds of financial workers had camped out in offices for weeks, with some having no access to a shower. 

Shanghai is home to more than 1,600 financial institutions with more than 470,000 employees. The city, also home to China’s largest stock, currency, futures and gold exchanges, processes more than 1,900 trillion yuan ($284 trillion) of transactions every year. 

Companies from JPMorgan to HSBC Jintrust Fund Management Co. are allowing employees to return to the office, but work isn’t in full swing yet. JPMorgan is welcoming back employees in phases, without giving a timeline for a full resumption, according to an emailed response to Bloomberg questions.

HSBC Jintrust said in a statement it will resume a split-team arrangement from June 1 and gradually build up the presence at its office and Bank of China Investment Management is adopting a similar approach. HFT Investment Management Co. is swapping out employees who had been stationed in office in the past two months as part of its plan to resume on-site operations from June, according to a company statement. 

Shenwan Hongyuan Group Co. said all employees should be back in office after June 6, adding that it will adjust the plan accordingly based on Shanghai’s Covid measures. Sinolink Securities Co. is taking a slightly more prudent approach, saying all departments can arrange for some workers to return to office under a split-team backup plan, but all should avoid going to the office if unnecessary. 

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