Foxconn, a major iPhone supplier, suspends operations in China due to coronavirus surge

A key supplier for Apple iPhones suspended operations Monday in Shenzhen after the Chinese city imposed a lockdown to control a surge in coronavirus cases.

Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics company that assembles the phones, said it would shift its production lines to other plants in China to keep things running as best as possible and that resumption of the Shenzhen plant is up to the local government.

Disruptions in Shenzhen, a major hub next to Hong Kong, are the latest hit to the global supply chain due to the virus and China’s strict zero-COVID policy.

While infection rates in China remain low compared to other nations, the government in Beijing frequently orders mass testing or lockdowns due to reported cases, and Hong Kong is seeing an unprecedented surge.

Hong Kong has reported nearly 3,780 COVID-19 deaths and almost 700,000 cases since late January, according to The New York Times.

The surge is raising questions about the sustainability of the communist government’s approach and its ability to wrangle the virus on Hong Kong, an island with special administrative status.

For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.