Millions under lockdown amid worst COVID-19 surge in China since early days of pandemic
Millions under lockdown amid worst COVID-19 surge in China since early days of pandemic
Several companies in China’s manufacturing centers in both the south and northeast have halted operations amid the country’s most extensive COVID-19 lockdown since the start of the pandemic in Wuhan.
China reported more than 5,000 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, its highest since the beginning of 2020, and this week the country locked down the entire province of Jilin in the northeast – the first since Hubei The first such lockdown in the entire province, where Wuhan is located, was lifted in 2020 from the rest of the country.
Jilin is notably a manufacturing hub for automobile companies, and carmakers Toyota and Volkswagen said they have suspended production in the capital, Changchun.
The current surge by the Omicron variant has spread to several cities in China and 19 of the 31 provinces have reported cases. In southern Guangdong province, two cities vital to the economy, tech hub Shenzhen and manufacturing hub Dongguan, have both been placed under lockdown.
Apple supplier Foxconn said it has suspended operations at its Shenzhen facility. Langfang, which has a Foxconn facility in northern Hebei province, has also announced a lockdown. The measures mean workers will have to stay at home and production will remain suspended. The Taiwanese electronics maker said it was looking to divert production to other facilities on the mainland, but with the spread of the current boom, those options are likely to narrow.
China largely managed to keep supply chains functioning normally through 2020 – once it curbed the initial outbreak in the summer – and throughout 2021, when a “zero COVID” strategy, coupled with international travel restrictions- Relying on accompanying testing and tracing. Quickly quelling outbreaks helped the Chinese economy record a strong export performance, while much of the world was caught in a cycle of lockdowns. China avoided a major second wave unlike most of the world.
How the current surge affects China’s supply chains and industrial production will raise concerns of its major trading partners, including India, who are already preparing to deal with the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Of particular concern is the impact on China’s major ports. Shanghai, the world’s largest, has imposed a lockdown in several neighborhoods, but the port was maintaining normal operations as of Tuesday. Another major port, Shenzhen, is also functioning, although the city itself has been placed under lockdown.
If lockdown restrictions spread, affecting access to ports as well as workers, as was the case in 2020, when COVID-19 measures led to record queues for container ships, analysts fear a drop in freight traffic. Disruption may occur, causing both bottlenecks and increased freight costs. Saw it then
The current surge has certainly presented the biggest test yet for China’s elimination strategy, though official media have made it clear that the “dynamic zero COVID” strategy is here to stay and that China’s opening up anytime soon. is not likely.
“China has already found a way to dynamically stamp out COVID-19 infections while maintaining the country’s economic vitality,” the official Xinhua news agency said in a commentary on Tuesday.
“It saw a strong rebound in 2021 with a growth of 8.1% and became the only major economy to register growth in 2020. Thanks to this policy, China, the second largest economy and a major supplier of many manufactured goods, can provide major manufactured products. The world, which also includes goods badly needed by many countries to fight the pandemic,” it added.