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Written by: Yuan Shu
2020-05-12 07:05
Last update date: 2020-05-12 07:07The outbreak of New Coronary Pneumonia broke out in Hubei Province, China, at the end of last year. Closed management has been implemented in many cities across the country, and factories have been forced to shut down and stop production. Many Hong Kong businessmen with factories in the Mainland have been affected. Not only the mainland government has high requirements for resumption of work. In addition to the need to purchase epidemic prevention materials at high prices, the manufacturers also have to stay outside due to traffic control restrictions. It is also difficult to resume production.
The quarantine orders of the two places also made enterprises face difficulties. Liu Dabang, the honorary chairman of the Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Association, pointed out that he could not go north to see customers, sign contracts, see samples, and hold staff meetings. He said that although the Mainland has subsidies for enterprises such as social insurance and property fees, but different regions have different policies and high thresholds and complicated procedures, the Hong Kong government prioritizes subsidizing local enterprises and zero subsidies to Hong Kong businessmen in the Mainland.
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Resumption of work requires high measures not in place to stop production
Liu Dabang, Honorary Chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises, has an aluminum plant in Dongguan, Guangdong, which has been in operation for more than 30 years. According to the usual practice, it should have been started on the tenth day of the year (3rd). On the days when it is impossible to start work, the staff of the Dongguan Prevention and Control Center will release information to the manufacturers from time to time to communicate the requirements for resumption of work.
According to the information, Dongguan City only issued a notice on the resumption of business on February 6 ("Notice on Strengthening Epidemic Prevention and Control of" Five Stricts and Four Musts "and nine measures"), which means that the government will strictly control the movement of personnel in all communities. , Units, and communities must strengthen closed management; the resumption of production of enterprises has also become the focus of management. Isolation observation rooms, adequate protective clothing, masks, disinfection materials, etc. must be set up in the enterprise; if there are confirmed cases in the enterprise, it will be Discontinued immediately. The notice also stated that if the epidemic prevention and control measures are not in place, enterprises will be held accountable according to laws and regulations.
Liu Dabang, Honorary Chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises, said that he had already found suitable factories in Southeast Asia after the Sino-US trade war and planned to move the factory out of the mainland. (Profile picture / Photo by OJL)
Mainland China's newly resumed work was delayed due to overseas epidemic situation
Liu Dabang also spent a lot of time preparing for epidemic prevention materials, including collecting medical masks from foreign countries and transporting them to the factory. After the materials were prepared properly, the commissioner near the local epidemic prevention and control command center made two inspections, and the factory was finally allowed to resume work on February 10. The factory rent for this week alone exceeded 400,000 Hong Kong dollars.
However, the problem was not resolved. Liu said that traffic control was implemented in many places throughout the country, and most employees of the aluminum factory were not from the province. On February 10th, only 37 of the original 200-person factory successfully arrived. Less than 20%; most of them are clerks and management, it is really difficult to restart production. He said that the process of resuming work is long. Every week after resuming work, a group of employees will return to the factory to resume work. It was not until about 80% of the workers arrived at the post in early March.
Liu Dabang pointed out that many Hong Kong businessmen started to work because of the delay of the epidemic, and the losses caused by it were not a small number. The overseas epidemic broke out around March. Almost all orders in Europe and the United States and other places were postponed. Among them, factories operating clothing, watches and leather shoes lost The worst is, "There are millions to tens of millions of losses, and the family's production capacity is reached, the expenditure is unchanged, but there is no income, and there are problems with the company's cash flow."
On March 27, the Office of the Guangdong Provincial Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters requested that all people entering through the Guangdong Port be quarantined for 14 days. In addition to the quarantine order issued by the Hong Kong government earlier, if someone travels between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, it will require 28 days of quarantine. (Pictured by China News Agency)
It is difficult to sign and check samples for quarantine restrictions in both places
In addition to the difficulty of resuming work, many factories were disrupted by the epidemic. For Liu Dabang, the quarantine measures in China and Hong Kong also gave him a headache. On February 7, the Hong Kong Government gazetted the "Compulsory Quarantine Regulations for Certain Persons" (Chapter 599C), which requires all people who come to Hong Kong through the Mainland to be compulsory for quarantine for 14 days; on March 27, the Guangdong Province Epidemic Prevention and Control Command The ministry's office required all people who entered the Guangdong port to be segregated for 14 days. He said, "It will take 28 days for segregation in disguise."
Liu Dabang said that many of the management of his aluminum factory live in Hong Kong and work cross-border. Under the quarantine restrictions on both sides, it is impossible to see customers. Signing cheques, contracts, etc. need to be sent by courier, while meeting and viewing samples can only be carried out by network video, which greatly affects efficiency. "Network video sample template It's troublesome, there will be color difference, and ultimately, the mainland staff can only decide whether they are qualified or not.
Chief Executive Lin Zhengyue announced at the end of April that Hong Kong residents who would go north to do business would be exempted from the 14-day compulsory quarantine after returning to Hong Kong, and the application details would be announced on May 4th, specifying the Hong Kong enterprise setting up a factory in the Mainland, its owner and one Personnel or a maximum of two company personnel, the Trade and Industry Department (ITT) will process the application from now on. However, the exempted persons are required to abide by a number of rules, including only going to and staying in the city where the factory in the Mainland is located, and after returning to Hong Kong, they must be subject to medical monitoring, wear masks and daily 量 度 body temperature, and report to the Department of Health any appropriateness.
After finding a factory outbreak in Southeast Asia, it may move out of the Mainland
Liu Dabang pointed out that the outbreak affected the Hong Kong businessmen who set up factories in the Mainland. As the honorary chairman of the SME Association, he also repeatedly called on the government to provide relief measures to these manufacturers. He said that during the Sino-U.S. Trade war last year, many Hong Kong companies have been hit hard. He has also found new factories in Southeast Asia. He no longer installs factories in Mainland China in order to diversify risks. stranded. If the epidemic is over, it will continue to find suitable locations in Southeast Asia and other places, and move the plant away from the mainland as soon as possible.
The resumption of factory operations in the Mainland. (China News Agency)
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