On the 18th Beijing time, H&M, the world's second-largest apparel retailer, announced that it will temporarily close all of its 460 stores in Germany and all 590 stores in the US to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Germany and the US are the company's first and second largest markets.

The company also said it will close all stores in Canada, Portugal and Belgium.

The company said its Chinese business has slowly begun to recover and is now focusing on adjusting purchasing and inventory levels.

Over the past week, H&M has closed all of its stores in Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Australia, Luxembourg, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, and Kazakhstan, as well as some stores in Greece.