BEIJING -- A growing number of China's small retailers are open for business as economic activities gradually resume amid the epidemic, data from digital payment platform Alipay showed.

A consumer scans an Alipay QR code to pay for the order at a self-service restaurant in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. (Photo: Xinhua)

Small stores having resumed operations increased by 25 percent on Monday over one week ago, while those in fast-moving consumer goods saw a 35-percent growth, according to Alipay, a popular mobile payment tool among stores across China.

South China's economic hub Shenzhen posted the largest growth in grassroots retail revival, followed by Changsha and Guangzhou.

Despite the novel coronavirus outbreak, 88 percent of 20,000 stores said they would not trim their employment this year and 38 percent might hire more people, according to a survey conducted by Alipay and Alibaba-backed Internet bank MYbank.

Over half of the respondents expected their 2020 revenue to top last year, the survey showed.