Chinese media firm cuts 500 workers in bid to survive coronavirus

FILE PHOTO: People wearing face masks stand on an elevator next to an advertisement of a recruitment platform Boss Zhipin, inside the Xierqi subway station, on the morning after the extended Lunar New Year holiday caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak, in Beijing, China February 10, 2020. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese firm Xinchao Media has laid off 500 people, or just over 10% of its workforce, saying it needed to resort to such measures to survive the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

The move comes even as Chinese President Xi Jinping said the government would prevent large-scale layoffs due to the virus outbreak, which has already killed more than a 1,000 people in mainland China and infected over 40,000.