For four days due to lockdown
Tesla stops production in Shanghai
03/28/2022, 09:19 am
In Shanghai, the short-term lockdown comes into effect: the city’s residential areas are cordoned off and there is a strict home office obligation for residents. The first companies are taking their consequences – Tesla is paralyzing its production in China’s economic metropolis for a few days.
According to insiders, the US electric car manufacturer is interrupting its production in Shanghai for four days. Two people familiar with the matter said so. Both employees and suppliers have been informed. Tesla declined to comment. In mid-March, the production lines in Shanghai stood still for two days due to the corona restrictions in the region.
The widespread lockdown came into effect early Monday morning in the eastern and southern parts of the Chinese port city of Shanghai, which has a population of 26 million. The unexpected announcement by the city government led to hamster purchases and long queues in front of supermarkets on Sunday evening. The radical measure is intended to stop the spread of the corona virus, as the city government reported.
The lockdown will take place in two stages: Until Friday, residents in Pudong and neighboring districts such as Fengxian, Jinshan, Chongming and parts of Minhang will have to stay at home and will be tested. After that, a similar lockdown will come into effect in the older part of the metropolis west of the Huangpu River, where testing will continue until Monday. Infected people are isolated in facilities. On Sunday, 50 local diseases and 3,450 asymptomatic infections were detected in Shanghai, the Beijing Health Commission reported. Nationally, 1219 local infections and 5134 asymptomatic cases were reported.
Germany fears delivery bottlenecks
In addition to Shanghai, the northeast Chinese province of Jilin has also been badly affected. The lockdown in Shanghai came as a surprise, as rumors had been denied the day before. Residential areas are sealed off, but food and other goods should continue to be delivered by courier services if they can be handed over without contact. Public transport, ferries and taxis have stopped operating.
With the lockdown in Shanghai, the concerns of the German economy about material and delivery bottlenecks are likely to increase. After all, China is by far their most important trading partner: goods worth 245.4 billion euros were traded between the two countries last year, 15.1 percent more than in the first Corona year 2020.
China is pursuing a zero-Covid strategy, which has been put to the test with the arrival of the more propagating Omicron variant since the beginning of the year. Until then, the authorities had successfully combated minor outbreaks with curfews, mass testing, contact tracing and quarantine. Life in China has been largely normal for almost two years, but the country has closed itself off to other countries.