COVID-19: US, European companies in China still face challenges in getting back to work

[JackTheRipper]

• Travel disruptions to the flow of people and goods are a top challenge for foreign companies in China right now, says Greg Gilligan, chairman of the Beijing-based American Chamber of Commerce in China.
• Most of the 169 member companies that responded to the chamber’s survey last week said it’s too early to tell how much the delays cost, but about 10% estimated the losses are at least 500,000 yuan ($71,400) a day.
• Chinese authorities also painted a mixed picture of the return to work in official announcements this week.

Employees work on the production line of high-precision sheet aluminium at a factory of Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering Group Company Limited on November 23, 2019 in Zouping, Shandong Province of China.

BEIJING — Surveys of foreign businesses released this week indicate many people in China still haven’t returned to work, especially in factories, adding to revenue losses.

The coronavirus, which has killed more than 2,700 people in the country, forced more than half of the world’s second-largest economy to extend a shutdown for the Lunar New Year holiday by at least a week. However, in an effort to limit COVID-19′s spread, authorities have discouraged people from gathering. Cities like Beijing have also imposed 14-day quarantines for those returning from other parts of the country.


Travel disruptions to the flow of people and goods are a top challenge for foreign companies in China right now, Greg Gilligan, chairman of the Beijing-based American Chamber of Commerce in China, said in a phone interview Friday. “There’s still a very large number of people who are still sheltered in place and cannot return to their (city) of residence.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/28/cor...pean-firms-getting-back-to-work-in-china.html