The new corona virus has resulted in quarantine entire cities in China and the date when the country would start producing again, after the Chinese New Year holiday, has been moved forward by several days.

According to the President of the West Swedish Chamber of Commerce, Johan Trouvé, around 10,000 Swedish companies are trading in China and around 600 companies have staff or production in place.

- A large proportion of these companies are West Swedish. Between 4 and 5,000 of the companies that trade with China are from Western Sweden and between 150 and 200 West Swedish companies have operations in place, he says.

Not clear how the economy is affected

The large companies such as Volvo and SKF have already announced that they have imposed restrictions on travel and that returning staff will work from home for some time. SKF, for example, tells SVT News West that it avoids trips to affected areas. But you do not want to comment on the economy.

- It is too early to say exactly how the decision to extend the weekend (the Chinese New Year) will affect our production, writes Theo Kjellberg in an email to SVT.

In general, it is said to be difficult to see how the situation affects companies' finances.

- Most companies have a cautious waiting attitude. Among other things, it matters to what extent different types of productions continue to be shut down in China, says Johan Trouvé.

According to Trouvé, he himself is not yet very worried.

- But it is important to be observant, we must wait and follow the development. What becomes particularly clear in such a situation is how incredibly dependent we are on our trade with China.