Authorities in many parts of the country have introduced sweeping containment measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 2,000 people and infected tens of thousands more in the mainland.

But mandatory 14-day quarantines for returning workers, in addition to transport restrictions and lockdowns, have hampered the flow of migrant workers, exacerbating labour shortages.

Now, many provinces in China’s eastern coastal zones are on the front foot to help the workers return.

At least 21,800 workers from provinces with labour surpluses, including Guizhou, Sichuan and Anhui, have been brought in by chartered railways, planes, and buses.

Ningbo, a major port and industrial hub in Zhejiang, has encouraged companies to arrange “point-to-point” pickup and drop off of migrant workers with the government subsidising half the cost of chartered transport.

Couples returning to work at open factories are eligible for a one-off subsidy of 500 yuan (US$71), while a company that hires more staff than in the same period a year earlier can also receive subsidies up to 300,000 yuan (US$42,800)

In Huzhou, a city bordering Jiangsu province to the north, authorities have set up a 100 million yuan (US$14.2 million) fund to lure people back to work.

Every new hire by a local firm is eligible for an allowance of 1,000 yuan (US$143) and companies that hire at least 20 workers from outside the city could receive a minimum of 4,000 yuan. The local government is also offering to reimburse the costs for chartered buses.

Yongkang, a county-level city known for metal and hardware production, is sending 60 chartered buses to pick up migrant workers from Zhenxiong county in Yunnan province. More than 20 per cent of some 500,000 migrant workers in Yongkang came from the rural county.

Elsewhere, Yiwu, a city famous for its small commodity trade, is reimbursing railway and bus tickets for workers who arrive in the city before Saturday. The refund will be halved if they return next week.

“This is an indication that the government is increasingly shifting its policy from ‘fighting the virus at all costs’ to striking a better balance between virus containment and ensuring an orderly resumption of normal economic activity,” said Aidan Yao, senior emerging Asia economy analyst from AXA Investment Managers.

“The latter will be difficult to achieve without workers back at their posts. So I think it makes sense to focus the fiscal effort on expediting the return of migrant workers back to their jobs.

“This is particularly key for regions that are showing better virus containment and rely more on migrant workers to power regional growth. Zhejiang fits the bill well.”

On Wednesday, the provincial government of Zhejiang also removed all highway checkpoints and restored highway exits, except those leading to other provinces or Wenzhou, an industrial city that has the highest number of infections in the province. On Wednesday, Zhejiang had 1,173 confirmed coronavirus cases, with 504 from Wenzhou.

The government said it hoped that industrial and manufacturing would reach 70 per cent of capacity by the end of this month, up from 40 per cent last week.

Some 120 million migrant workers are expected to return to their jobs in the second half of February, bringing the workforce to about two thirds of its full capacity. The remaining 100 million will return in March if the virus is brought under control, according to Liu Xiaoming, a vice-transport minister.