Suzhou goes all out to support enterprises in COVID-19 fight

2022-03-04 13:42:00

Since a new wave of COVID-19 infections was reported in Suzhou in February, the city has gone all out to fight the pandemic and at the same time ensure the stable production and operation of companies.

Suzhou is an economic powerhouse in China and one of the world's important manufacturing bases. The city has coordinated efforts for smooth progress of projects and constructions in the pandemic response, such as helping companies recruit employees and keeping the logistics supply going.

HeJian Technology (Suzhou), located in the Suzhou Industrial Park, started production in 2003 and has a monthly capacity around 80,000 wafers. After one employee was confirmed infected with COVID-19, the company halted the production for the first time and more than 1,400 employees were also isolated at the site.

The good news was that the company won the approval on February 24 to resume normal operation. Gao Mingzheng, general manager of HeJian Technology, said all employees tested negative for COVID-19 in seven rounds of testing and nearly 70% of workers have returned to work.

Gao also said the timely pandemic response and reopening now means this disruption will not have a significant impact on the company's yearly revenue.

Similar progress was also made at FLEX Suzhou amid rigorous pandemic prevention and control measures. At 10:30 on February 25, the company’s medic Qian Shufang stood in front of the canteen to remind employees to follow the rules – sanitize the hands fully, fetch the food first, take a seat and then take off the mask to eat.

The company’s nearly 4,000 employees had to suspend their work after one staff member tested positive for the coronavirus on February 10. After comprehensive disinfection, environmental surface testing and eight rounds of nucleic acid testing of employees, the company was given the go-ahead to get back on track.

FLEX Suzhou now implements stricter preventive measures, such as the testing of key personnel from every two days to daily as well as the disinfection of both interior and exterior of imported materials. Yang Jianyuan, general manager of FLEX Suzhou, said the company has eased the pressure of shipment and restored 60% of production capacity.

According to the Suzhou Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, 11 industrial enterprises above designated size temporarily suspended operation due to their employees infected by the virus. These companies are gradually reopening amid progress made in the fight against the outbreak. Data also showed 99% of nearly 12,000 industrial enterprises above designated size resumed production and they also reported the return rate of employees over 95%. Local and foreign-funded enterprises are both confident of the post-pandemic recovery in Suzhou.

Sun Hao, general manager of a Japanese invested enterprise in the Suzhou Industrial Park, praised the city’s effective COVID-19 response and also said the Japanese parent company will expand project cooperation in Suzhou. The enterprise is specialized in the research, development, design and manufacture of special textile products for engineering and personal hygiene.

Suzhou has recently seen many investment deals inked despite the latest COVID-19 resurgence. On February 25, agreements for 39 projects involving an investment of nearly 10 billion yuan were reached to settle in Taicang, a county-level city under the administration of Suzhou. Then on the following day, Suzhou High-tech Zone promoted the launch of 36 key projects with an investment of 35.8 billion yuan. Such projects are expected to inject new growth momentum into the city.