“Some companies have been overwhelmed”: Chinese production weighed down by Covid-19
The return of covid but non-feverish employees to work has made it possible to restart production.
REUTERS - ALY SONG
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
After three years under cover, the recovery of the Chinese economy has been hampered by the Omicron “tsunami”.
The spread of the epidemic, after the relaxation of the "zero Covid-19" policy last month, is slowing down production in the former workshop of the world.
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With our correspondent in Beijing,
Stéphane Lagarde
The Covid-19 surge has deprived factories of workers and customers in southeast China.
The lifting of restrictions was intended to relaunch the productive machine, particularly in Canton and Shenzhen.
“
Companies have had to work with fewer staff.
It was very hard, some were overwhelmed by the number of patients.
They had 80% fewer employees
, reports Klaus Zenkel, business manager in Shenzhen and representative of the European Chamber of Commerce for the south of the country
.
Others had to stop production altogether, but luckily it didn't last long because they followed the official guidelines which say that if you have few symptoms and no fever, you can work.
»
The peak exceeded
Non-feverish covid workers
on assembly lines have allowed many factories to operate with 50% of their staff.
This would have limited the damage, according to the European Chamber of Commerce, which like the entire business world had repeatedly called for the lifting of zero-Covid restrictions.
The traffic jams have now returned to the megalopolises of the South, a sign that the peak of the epidemic has passed.
Still, activity in Chinese factories contracted further in December and for services, restaurants and shops, business was as bad this winter as at the start of the pandemic in 2020, according to an official survey.
In France, the thwarted hopes of tourism professionals
In France, the first European destination for the Chinese, the tourism sector is impatiently awaiting the reopening of China, scheduled for January 8 after three years of “zero Covid” policy.
Like Wu Qin, Franco-Chinese owner of sixteen hotels in Paris.
Before the pandemic, the Chinese accounted for 10% of its turnover.
So the announcement of the reopening of his native country had delighted him for his Parisian business: “
The Chinese, when they think of traveling to Europe, the first country they think of is France,
he explains .
.
And the first city they think of is Paris.
It has happened, the end of the zero Covid policy.
We were delighted!
But unfortunately, at the moment, we are disappointed.
»
As of Thursday, all people arriving in France from China must present proof of a negative test (PCR or antigen) less than 48 hours old.
The Franco-Chinese hotelier is absolutely against it: “
They knew they were going to be tested as soon as they arrived at the airport.
I think they will be discouraged, because precisely, they were waiting for that moment to go out and if we again practice the policy which looks a bit like that of zero Covid, it gives them a bad memory, I think.
It's a bit of a shame, though.
He is expecting Chinese tourists for the spring.
This is also the opinion of Jean-Pierre Mas, president of the union of travel companies: “
It is not because the Chinese can travel on January 8 that they will travel on January 9.
We will not reach the level of attendance of 2019 in 2023
, ”he believes.
In 2019, Chinese tourists injected more than 3 billion euros into the French economy each year.
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