China will take targeted measures to help foreign companies resume production while containing the latest outbreaks of Covid-19, to put its economic growth on a firmer footing, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said. The government will address specific difficulties faced by foreign-funded companies in resuming work and accessing production materials, said MOFCOM Spokesman Gao Feng. The government has already optimized epidemic prevention and control measures, ensured smooth transportation channels, and facilitated raw material and emergency supplies to companies, including foreign-funded enterprises, affected by the latest Covid-19 outbreak in many parts of the country. In the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will work closely with various working teams at key foreign-funded projects and the government branches concerned to accelerate the implementation of these measures and to help them restart their production and operations, Gao said.
Germany's Bosch Group said its auto parts plants in Shanghai and Taicang, Jiangsu province, have continued production under closed-loop management. Its thermal technology factory in Shanghai, however, has halted production. The group’s auto parts plant in Changchun, Jilin province, resumed production last week, the company said in a statement. Zhang Yanbing, Manager at Taicang-based BOS Automotive Systems (Taicang) Co, a subsidiary of Germany’s BOS Group, which supplies automotive interiors to BMW and Mercedes, as well as Chinese companies Geely and Nio, said the company has faced difficulties in logistics since it restarted its operations. “We mainly import raw materials and industrial parts from Europe, such as motors and wiring harnesses. Our weekly import frequency is currently about 10 containers, and the import volume in March soared by 13% year-on-year,” he said. “Demand for these materials, driven by Chinese automakers’ orders, especially new energy vehicle makers, will keep increasing in the coming months.”
The Ministry, together with various other government branches, has been deploying resources to resolve difficulties in aviation, railways and shipping services while strengthening logistics, personnel flow and trade settlement services, so that businesses can resume production. MOFCOM started to work with China Export and Credit Insurance Corp in late February to give full play to export credit insurance in risk prevention and credit enhancement. By stepping up the use of export credit insurance, the Ministry will protect exporters from the risk of nonpayment by foreign buyers, and raise foreign trade companies’ risk-hedging capability for the two-way fluctuation of the renminbi exchange rate.
To remove institutional obstacles to the integration of China’s domestic and foreign trade channels as well as unclog both domestic and international circulations, the government will make certain that domestic and foreign trade rules are effectively aligned, promote product benchmarking and cross-border e-commerce platforms, and speed up digital empowerment, Gao said. The Ministry will carry out pilot projects for the integration of domestic and foreign trade channels, and form a batch of replicable experiences and practices to promote this trading form across the country.
Chinese authorities will identify a list of key industries and enterprises engaged in foreign trade in fields such as automobiles, integrated circuits, consumer electronics, equipment manufacturing, agricultural supplies, food and medicine, following a national teleconference on keeping industrial and supply chains stable, which was attended by Vice Premier Liu He. To overcome logistical barriers and boost traffic flow, the country will issue sufficient travel permits that can be recognized across the nation and make sure that nucleic acid test results within 48 hours can be used in different regions, the Ministry of Transport said. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) cleared 666 manufacturers in Shanghai to resume production, to help key industries get back to work.
Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory, China's first foreign-funded end-to-end vehicle production project, resumed operations, with 8,000 employees back in the plant after nearly three weeks of closure since March 28. Full production capacity of the Gigafactory will only be achieved in mid-May due to supply chain and logistics bottlenecks.
China’s foreign trade soared 10.7% year-on-year to CNY9.42 trillion in the first quarter of this year, maintaining growth momentum for seven quarters amid mounting challenges ranging from domestic Omicron outbreaks and external risks, data from the General Administration of Customs showed, as reported by the China Daily.
