Several COVID-hit Chinese cities from the country's east to west imposed fresh restrictions and lockdowns on their populations on Thursday to contain flare-ups that are again threatening to disrupt local economies, News.az reports citing Reuters.

Reducing people's unnecessary movement for a few days - a softer type of lockdown - as soon as dozens of new cases emerge is a key practice of China's "dynamic COVID-zero" strategy. The aim is to avoid turning efforts to halt an outbreak into the extended nightmares seen in Shanghai and Wuhan.

The uncertainty over how long such smaller lockdowns may last - because Omicron's high transmissibility makes it harder to clear infections - has hurt business confidence and made people less willing to travel.

The eastern export and manufacturing hub Yiwu said on Thursday it would enter three days of "silent management", with most of its residents banned from leaving designated areas and some confined to their homes.