China's auto industry tackles challenges to safeguard global industrial chain amid pandemic

TRYING HARD TO ENSURE SUPPLY CHAIN STABILITY

Shanghai and Jilin together account for about 22 percent country's auto industry and have played a leading role in the comprehensive recovery of the industrial chain.

"The stable operation of the auto plants in Shanghai, Jilin and other important auto production bases in China is of great significance to the stability of the global auto industrial chain," said Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association.

Since the COVID-19 resurgence in March, local authorities have attached importance to key auto enterprises, taking measures such as strengthening nucleic acid tests and supplying epidemic prevention materials.

In Changchun, the government prioritized helping FAW deliver a shipment of China's iconic car brand Hongqi vehicles to Norway and removed obstacles for work resumption of foreign experts involved in EA211 engine debugging at FAW-Volkswagen.

A worker checks a vehicle at the assembly line of FAW-Volkswagen in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, May 16, 2022. (Xinhua)

In Shanghai, while grappling with the latest COVID-19 resurgence, the municipal government has so far released four batches of "white-list" for companies that are allowed to resume work, among which are some 1,500 auto parts companies.

More than 40,000 workers from SAIC Motor have resumed work in factories under closed management, the company has said. In 2022, SAIC Motor aims to sell more than 6 million vehicles, an increase of more than 10 percent year on year. In April, it sold 167,000 vehicles.