China Firms Cut Staff on Virus Outbreak as Xi Vows No Large-Scale Layoffs

A man wearing a face mask walks out of the subway with a suitcase in the morning after the extended Lunar New Year holiday caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak, at the Xierqi subway station, in Beijing, China on Feb. 10, 2020. ingshu Wang/Reuters

SHANGHAI—A Chinese media company said it will lay off 500 employees due to the coronavirus outbreak, the latest among a string of firms to do so in the past two weeks as the outbreak takes a toll on small-to-medium sized businesses.

Xinchao Media, which places advertisements in elevators, will cut 10 percent of its workforce to “ensure survival,” the company said in a post on its official WeChat account on Feb. 10, which carried the transcript of an internal speech by CEO Zhang Jixue.