Shanghai [China], May 22 (ANI): China's Shanghai is facing an exodus of talent and labour as thousands of people leave the city which has been in total lockdown since April 1, according to media reports.

Li Pei, who is running -- solar panel business and kindergarten.

The staff of Li's solar panel business have been working remotely to achieve sales quotas since the city went into lockdown in late March. While Li's kindergarten in Beijing's Haidian district is temporarily closed, after already struggling for months to attract new students following last year's announcement of the "double reduction" policy.

Li's teachers are being tested daily for coronavirus until at least Wednesday, following district authorities' announcement of mass testing in urban districts over the weekend.

"'Should I continue (my business) or just close it entirely?' How can the government support small and medium enterprises? Without clear rules, we are shrouded in uncertainty," he said, according to Al Jazeera.

Li is among the millions of small business owners and entrepreneurs across China who are bearing the brunt of Beijing's "dynamic zero COVID policy", which has put the economy in its most precarious position since the start of the pandemic.

Shanghai, the export capital of the country reported 52 confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 570 local asymptomatic cases on Saturday, Xinhua stated.

China's much-publicised 'zero-covid' strategy that the government credited for bringing the country out of the pandemic till recently is falling apart as the rapidly mounting cases are again forcing mass lockdowns like those seen in 2020. (ANI)