Chinese manufacturers forced to halt production in Vietnam as coronavirus surge grows

Chinese manufacturers in southern Vietnam are suffering amid lockdowns and business closures, and they are not confident restrictions will be relaxed soon

A growing number of Chinese manufacturers have moved to Vietnam since the start of the trade war to evade tariffs and take advantage of cheaper labour

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Covid-19 cases have surged in Vietnam in recent months, forcing numerous Chinese manufacturers to halt operations in the country. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:00pm, 23 Jul 2021Updated: 9:17pm, 23 Jul 2021

Chinese manufacturers in Vietnam are struggling amid the country’s worst coronavirus outbreak so far, with one business in the hard-hit south “losing tens of thousands of US dollars” a day.

Fuelled by the fast-spreading Delta variant, cases have surged in the Southeast Asian nation in recent months, hitting another record high of 6,194 new infections on Thursday.

Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s financial and economic hub, and neighbouring industrial provinces like Dong Nai and Binh Duong have closed non-essential businesses, restricted gatherings and imposed strict social distancing measures.

Xu Chuanlu, the owner of Dinh Thinh Plastic in Ho Chi Minh City, said his factory had been closed for the past 12 days and it had come at a huge expense.

We are losing tens of thousands of US dollars every day

Xu Chuanlu

“We are expected to resume production in two days, but I am not optimistic, there are still thousands of new cases every day, maybe our production will be suspended for another two weeks, who knows?” the Chinese businessman said.

Vietnam had successfully contained the virus until about three months ago, when new outbreaks returned to ravage southern provinces. As of Thursday, the country had recorded a total of 72,242 domestically transmitted Covid-19 cases, including 70,672 since late April, according to the health ministry.

Xu, who has been spray painting for big shoe brands for about 20 years in Vietnam, said production had only been halted once before, during the 2014 anti-China protests.

“All workers have been released to go home, only me and a few Chinese colleagues are staying in the facility and we don’t go out. We are losing tens of thousands of US dollars every day,” said Xu.