SHANGHAI (Reuters). Thousands of traders, bankers, and other workers have taken up residence in Shanghai’s Lujiazui district in order to preserve China’s huge financial center. Officials from the local administration claim that they are trying to secure a COVID-19 lockdown to ensure their safety.

Lujiazui’s financial and asset management brokers and exchanges – China’s Wall Street equivalent – quickly summoned key staff to their offices to prepare for Monday’s Shanghai lockdown. They also prepared basic supplies and sleeping bags to be used overnight.

They have established two-team rotation shifts as well, and set up disaster recovery centers at a financial center that processed over 2,500 trillion Yuan ($292 Trillion) in financial transactions.

According to Pudong’s administrative bureau, the district also houses some non-financial organizations. The 285 office buildings in Pudong’s Lujiazui Financial City are home to around 20,000 white collar workers.

Shanghai, which is home to 26 millions people, began a lockdown Monday. It was divided along the Huangpu River in order to facilitate staggered testing. Shanghai is home to China’s largest markets for foreign, stock and derivatives trades.

Amundi BOC Walth Management Co stated that its top executives and key investments, trading, and risk management staff sleep in the offices to maintain smooth business operations.

Haitong Securities Co reported that Chairman Zhou Jie, chairman of Haitong Securities Co, arranged on-site emergency duty shifts in Pudong at its subsidiaries on Sunday evening and directed more than 150 employees to start working in the offices on Monday. According to the brokerage’s official website, two-team rotation shifts were also initiated between its two offices.

HFT Investment Management, BNP Paribas, (OTC:),’ Chinese fund venture, placed 52 employees at key offices throughout the lockdown period.

China’s Sinolink Securities posted a notice Sunday night asking its employees to return to Pudong as soon as possible to ensure “continuity of trading and system operation”.

A Shanghai-based executive of a foreign bank said that his bank uses a hybrid model. Some staff sleep at Puxi’s backup office, on the west side, and others stay in Pudong in trading rooms.

Sources at another bank claim that the lender has been using disaster recovery facilities for over one week. The practice is expected to continue.

They declined to give their names because they weren’t authorized to address the media.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange stated to Reuters that it keeps a minimal number of employees in important positions at the bourse. Others work remotely as part of an arrangement meant to minimize human contact and ensure safety in trading.