In response to Beijing's widespread relaxation of zero-Covid laws, Taiwanese electronics company Foxconn has stopped a months-long "closed loop" system at the largest iPhone manufacturing in the world in central China.
The Chinese government dramatically loosened three years' worth of restrictions earlier this week in order to speed up the return to regular living. These limitations had crippled the Chinese economy and worn out the populace.
Following the discovery of instances in October, the Foxconn site in the heart of Zhengzhou was effectively placed under lockdown for 56 days, with employees only permitted to commute between their dorms and the factory floor via shuttle buses.
Intense demonstrations by new hires about pay and working conditions broke out in the middle of November; hundreds marched and several engaged in physical altercations with riot police and medical personnel.
The business said Thursday that the closed loop system will be discontinued.
The company requires employees to present a 48-hour negative test result in order to return to work, according to a notice published on Thursday on the official WeChat account of Foxconn's main campus in Zhengzhou, Henan province. "Given the... further lifting of China's epidemic control measures," the notice read.
With hundreds protesting and some engaging in physical altercations with riot police and medical personnel, new recruits began to violently protest their pay and working conditions in the middle of November.
The closed loop method will no longer be used, the business announced on Thursday.
A notification published on Thursday on the official WeChat account of Foxconn's main campus in Zhengzhou, Henan province, stated that "with the... further removal of China's epidemic control measures, the business expects employees to submit a 48-hour negative test result in order to return to work."
The majority of its plants are in China, with the main one being in Zhengzhou, often known as "iPhone city."
Last month, the city was placed under lockdowns as part of Beijing's zero-Covid policy in response to an increase in infections.
Foxconn's employment procedures were severely disrupted, and the supply chain stability, to which Beijing pays great attention, was shaken by the protracted production shutdown and demonstrations.
In the middle of November, new recruits started to angrily protest their salary and working conditions, with hundreds participating and some getting into physical altercations with riot police and medical professionals.
The company said on Thursday that it will stop using the closed loop technology.
The main campus of Foxconn in Zhengzhou, Henan province, issued a statement on its official WeChat account on Thursday saying that "with the... further elimination of China's epidemic control measures, the firm expects employees to submit a 48-hour negative test result in order to return to work."
