"Early detection helps to reduce the spread of the virus and to flatten the curve.

As China is among the quickest to flatten the virus curve and is expected to see early signs of economic recovery, Alibaba pledged to help export enterprises explore the domestic market, recruiting them as suppliers for Tmall Supermarket and Taobao Xinxuan (a private-label goods market).

Even though many carmakers from both domestic and global markets saw auto sales in China flatten or contract this year, this was balanced by the relatively stable sales of new energy vehicles and high-end cars, as well as hybrid vehicles, said Norbert Meyring, head of the industrial manufacturing and automotive sector for KPMG China.

That is, they only flatten the curve rather than reverse the trend.

"The rate of decline in developed economies is likely to flatten as some investment activity appears to be picking up in the third quarter.

The country saw FMCG sales flatten in the first nine months of 2020 after three straight years of more than 5 percent of annual growth, the report by consultancies Bain&Co and Kantar Worldpanel said.

Even though many carmakers from both domestic and global manufacturers saw auto sales in China flatten or contract this year, this was balanced by the relatively stable sales of high-end cars, SUVs, and new energy vehicles.

Musk said Tesla has been continuing to flatten its management structure to help it communicate better, eliminate bureaucracy and move faster.

However, if China's economy continues to stabilize and recover, and the real estate market gradually picks up in 2023, the tide of mortgage prepayments may tend to flatten, said Dong Ximiao, chief researcher at Merchants Union Consumer Finance Co. "If effective measures are taken to reduce mortgage prepayments and guide people to transform their savings into consumption and investment, it will provide strong support for the expansion of consumption and the acceleration of economic and social recovery," Dong said.

Reflecting this, the so-called countercyclical factor in the daily fixing, a tool that the central bank uses to flatten foreign exchange market volatility, has been neutral during recent fluctuations in the onshore RMB exchange rate against the US dollar, Xing added.

"Extreme measures to flatten the virus 'curve' is sensible – for a time – to stretch out the strain on health infrastructure.