The sex doll industry is being hit by the virus.
The city of Shenzhen, in Guangdong province, will allow businesses to reopen in China's key business hub, Shenzhen, after a city-wide shutdown sent financial markets into turmoil, the government said Thursday, amid efforts to contain a coronavirus outbreak loudly a report forwarded by Yahoo News.
In China, the number of cases is relatively low in the recent wave of disease outbreaks across the country. However, authorities are pursuing a "zero tolerance" policy, temporarily locking down major cities to isolate anyone infected. "We will make sure that companies get back to work," said Huang Qiang, deputy mayor of Shenzhen, according to a government report. He didn't give a timeline but said companies needed to step up their disease prevention measures and monitor their employees for the virus.
On Monday, shops in the financial and tech hub of Shenzhen were ordered to close, except for those supplying food, fuel and other essential supplies. Bus and subway services have been suspended. Local residents were urged to stay at home while authorities conducted three series of tests.
This has raised concerns about the potential impact on smartphone manufacturing and other industries in Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong. Economists see a potential threat to trade if anti-virus controls spill over to Shenzhen's Yantian port, one of the world's largest companies. The port is crammed with goods destined for countries around the world, including cheap sex dolls, love dolls and other goods.
Elsewhere, Changchun, the Northeast's industrial hub, was closed and travel controls were imposed in the surrounding Jilin province.
Volkswagen announced that production at its Changchun plant would be suspended on Friday. The German automaker announced it would open a plant in Shanghai, which has also tightened its vaccination controls.
Shenzhen is home to some of China's largest companies, including telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, Ping An Insurance Co of China, electric car maker BYD Auto and Tencent Holdings, operator of the popular messaging system WeChat.
In Shenzhen, the epidemic prevention and control situation is good," Huang said.
However, Huang warned that Shenzhen is still suffering from "sporadic outbreaks". In the 24 hours to Wednesday midnight, 71 confirmed cases of infection were found, he said.
