Foxconn Halts Shenzhen Operations Due to Pandemic Lockdown
Major Apple supplier and iPhone assembler Foxconn said on Monday it has suspended operations in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen to comply with the local government’s COVID-19 control policies.
Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd, has required all employees to take a PCR test and will resume its Shenzhen operations when advised to do so by the local government, the statement said.
The tech hub of Shenzhen has tightened its pandemic-related restrictions after it reported 60 new local cases with confirmed symptoms on Saturday. From March 14-20, non-urban security enterprises will be required to temporarily stop operating or adapt remote working arrangements. In addition, buses and subways stopped running, while communities and industrial parks are now managed in a closed fashion.
According to Foxconn’s official website, the company has more than 40 factories across the Chinese mainland. In the Pearl River Delta region, it oversees facilities in Shenzhen, Foshan, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Huizhou and Guangzhou and other areas.
Foxconn has two science and technology parks in Shenzhen, namely Longhua and Guanlan, covering 2.3 and 2.95 square kilometers respectively. The former was put into production in June 1996, and is Foxconn’s operations center and global manufacturing headquarters for mainland China. It is also the firm’s first factory in the Chinese mainland. At its peak, Longhua Park alone had more than 200,000 workers.
These two factories both have an “Integrated Digital Product Business Group,” which mainly produces mobile terminal equipment. They are currently responsible for assembly of iPhones, iPads, Apple computers and other products.
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According to a report by Taiwan Economic Daily News on February 28, in order to strengthen pandemic prevention measures, Longhua and Guanlan factories have suspended their recruitment of new workers since February 25. Due to the large number of talent recruited by Foxconn before China’s Spring Festival, there is no large-scale manpower demand in the near future.
