On Wednesday, Foxconn said it was able to restart some production and operations in the southern city of Shenzhen after adopting a “closed-loop management” system.
The system used during the recent Winter Olympics in Beijing kept event personnel tightly sealed off from the public, with regular COVID-19 tests for those within.
It was largely seen as successful in preventing the spread of coronavirus at the Olympics, or in the community.
“Some operations have been able to restart and some production is being carried out,” Foxconn said in a statement, adding that the system at its Shenzhen facilities subjected employees living there to the required health measures.
“This process, which can only be done on campuses that include both employee housing and production facilities, adheres to strict industry guidelines and close-loop management policies issued by the Shenzhen government,” it added.
On Monday, authorities in the commercial hub of Shanghai, which has also imposed tough COVID-19 curbs, said construction projects there would have to adopt a similar system to resume work.
Still, such a system is unlikely to be feasible for many companies and large-scale disruption to manufacturing is expected as China tightens curbs.
The Shenzhen Cross-border E-commerce Association, which groups about 2,800 retailers using platforms such as Amazon, said its members felt the pain of supply disruptions.
“There will be some short-term impact on cross-border platforms like Amazon, because we can’t sell right now, otherwise buyers will suffer … as the goods won’t be delivered efficiently,” said association chief Wang Xin.
Justin Jia, general manager of Baimi Tech, which makes equipment for printers from the manufacturing hub of Dongguan, said he was having issues with delivering internationally as his local provider suspended services this week.
Despite the pains, he supported China’s zero-COVID policy.
“If we just abruptly drop this policy, there’s the possibility of large-scale transmission,” he said. “I feel like it’s necessary.”
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