Beijing, May 30 (AP) Around 400 German managers, workers and family members have begun returning to China aboard charter flights as multinational companies in the world's second-largest economy seek to get their operations running again at full speed.

A pair of flights from Frankfurt to the Chinese business hubs of Tianjin and Shanghai were organized by the German Chamber of Commerce in China in cooperation with Germany's diplomatic missions and airline Lufthansa and are the first repatriation flights from Europe to China for foreign nationals. China has largely banned all foreigners from entering China because of the coronavirus outbreak.

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“This is an important step to reconnect China's and Germany's economies,” Jens Hildebrandt, executive director of the German Chamber of Commerce in North China, was quoted as saying in a news release. “It is our common interest to contribute in helping the economy return to normalcy and pre-virus levels.”

More than 5,200 German companies operate in China, employing more than 1 million people. “We know there is a huge demand in the German business community to get more foreign employees back to China,” Hildebrandt was quoted as saying.

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The first flight with 200 passengers was due to arrive shortly before noon on Saturday in Tianjin, a port city just east of the capital Beijing. Another flight to Shanghai. The second flight was expected to arrive in Shanghai around midday on Thursday, June 4. (AP)

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