Heartbreaking images of migrant workers homeless in China’s Wuhan and walking hundreds of kilometres to reach home from Indian cities come to mind whenever covid lockdowns are mentioned. Although the world is learning to live with covid while phasing out restrictions, China is still following a rigid zero-covid policy, where any spike in cases leads to a strick lockdown. As covid restrictions affect industries, Chinese workers have been seen abandoning iPhone’s biggest factory in the country.
Escaping nightmarish lockdowns?
Millions of people across Chinese cities, witnessing a spike in cases ahead of winter, have been affected by temporary lockdowns. Out of fear of being stranded away from home under a lockdown that barred people from leaving the workplace, staff at Foxconn’s factory in Zhengzhou were jumping over fences to escape. A video going viral shows 10 people fleeing the facility, although it isn’t known how many people were infected at the plant.
Contrary to Foxconn’s restrictions
These visuals of workers in distress contradict the Taiwan-headquartered firm’s claims that employees were being provided psychological comfort and responsive feedback. As the staff was locked inside the factory, Foxconn had also mentioned that the production activity was stable, and expected outcome for the next three months won’t change. Half of Apple’s global supply comes from this assembly plant in Zhenzhou, which is a crucial part of the brand’s supply chain.
China losing out to India and Vietnam
But as China’s covid restrictions are unlikely to stop anytime soon under Xi Jinping’s strict regime, Apple has started shifting production to facilities in India and Vietnam. China’s factory and services activity has also fallen because of the lockdowns that are now affecting almost 10 per cent of the total population. Venues such as Disney Land Shanghai have also been closed down, as restrictions are translating into an economic slowdown for the country, ahead of a global recession.
