Some travel agencies in Shanghai are being allowed to sell group tours to South Korea, raising hopes that Beijing will further ease retaliatory measures it took against the deployment of the U.S. THAAD anti-missile system on the Korean Peninsula.

According to travel agencies in China Thursday, the Shanghai municipal government notified four agencies the previous day that they would be allowed to sell group tour programs to South Korea.

After a trial period, the city government is expected to allow all other agencies in Shanghai to follow suit.

With the latest move, a total of five regions in China, including Beijing, Shandong, Hubei and Chongqing, have so far lifted group tour bans since China took the retaliatory steps against South Korea in December of last year.