Strict quarantine measures have prevented 300 million migrant workers from returning to work. Now local authorities are trying to get businesses going again. The main bottleneck: a shrunken workforce.
A migrant worker has his temperature taken on Feb. 25 after arriving on a chartered"point-to-point" bus from Henan, at a factory in Zouping, in China's Shandong province. Many enterprises are arranging chartered transport to enable employees to return to work.A migrant worker has his temperature taken on Feb. 25 after arriving on a chartered"point-to-point" bus from Henan, at a factory in Zouping, in China's Shandong province.
Michael Chen, a manager at an electronics manufacturing plant in the neighboring province of Jiangsu, says his company has rented an entire hotel — now empty because there are no travelers — to quarantine his returning workers. His plant, normally staffed by around 2,000 workers, is back up to 70% of its pre-virus operation levels, he says, but revenues likely will only be about half what they were before the outbreak.
"We haven't received very specific policies of how the central or local government will support private businesses, but we trust that they are also waiting for more specific information," said Zhao, of Xusheng Auto.partner in the political risk firm Plenum, says over-centralization of power in China's political system means policy can move slowly:"It takes time, province to province, to comprehend what Xi Jinping is talking about.
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