Christian Gassner, whose furniture components factory in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen had a dismal end of 2022 amid COVID-19 outbreaks, is finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel.
About two months ago, many workers quit to avoid potential lockdowns ahead of Lunar New Year, then in December, after pandemic controls came off, almost all who remained fell ill, disrupting production.
The government's abrupt abandonment of movement restrictions in December was followed by immense disruption from illness. But people running factories expect that the sudden U-turn will at least deliver a recovery that will be faster than what would have followed a phased withdrawal of controls. Some of the office staff filled in on assembly lines. Many workers with mild symptoms offered to carry on, asking to defer the week of sick leave they were entitled to for later, in case they needed time to take care of any family members falling ill.It was a similar shock for many Chinese manufacturers.
"Many blue collar guys have parents or grandparents who passed away, or who will be caught in the first big wave in their towns. Life has changed for them," the factory director said. So some will not rush to leave their home towns. The country of 1.4 billion, the last major nation to shift to treating COVID as endemic, is reopening to a world of higher inflation and borrowing costs and softening demand, including in major trade partners the United States and Europe.
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