A crane at a railway station in Hai'an, Jiangsu province, loads cargo that will be used in the fight against COVID-19 in Shanghai. ZHAI HUIYONG/FOR CHINA DAILY

Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui roll out special measures, subsidies to spur logistics

As Shanghai is on track to resume production after a 20-day citywide lockdown due to COVID-19, neighboring provinces in the Yangtze River Delta region have been helping with the resumption efforts by providing logistics support and facilitating cross-region transport of manufacturing materials.

On Monday in Zhejiang, two transit stations for the auto industry went into operation. They are designed to ensure smooth operations of the auto parts supply chain. "Auto parts from across the province are gathered at the station, before being shipped to warehouses in Shanghai, usually on the same day," said Chen Huan, deputy director of the commerce bureau in Qiantang district, Hangzhou, where one of the stations is located.

The stations will help relieve pressure on Shanghai as they integrate the supply of manufacturing materials from the area before they are sent to the city, said Lou Haojie, who works at another station in Ningbo.

"It will also enable the authorities to better manage the trucks and their drivers, as well as the loading and unloading processes," Lou said, referring to the potential risks of spreading COVID-19.

Earlier this month, two transit stations for daily necessities were put into use in Pinghu and Jiashan county with closed-loop management and contact-free transit.

Such a transit station has also been established in Kunshan, Jiangsu province. In the province, cities like Taizhou and Suzhou have taken measures to help supply chain companies affiliated with automakers such as SAIC Group and Tesla to resume operations and tackle logistical problems. Two additional transit stations for key products and manufacturing materials are being built in the province.

Suzhou has opened 50 highway lanes for trucks, of which 11 are for transporting emergency supplies, according to Suzhou's COVID-19 prevention and control team for traffic. It said that some highway lanes have been designated for trucks to transport supplies to Shanghai specifically.

Li Feng, deputy director of Jiangsu's Industry and Information Technology Department, said: "Railway, port, airline and shipping companies have been asked by the local government to work with industrial, domestic and foreign trade companies. Logistics operations must be resumed as soon as possible."

Jiang Xin, deputy director of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Commerce, said that more highways and roads will be reopened to guarantee logistics soon, and that the province will make detailed plans for each of the leading companies that have been seriously affected.

In Anhui province, subsidies have been provided to truckers transporting manufacturing materials for key enterprises.

Shanghai authorities issued a guideline last Saturday to restore production in key industries amid the latest COVID-19 outbreak. Some 666 companies in sectors like semiconductors, automobiles, and medical manufacturing and supplies were among the first group of firms to get back to work.

"We are preparing for the resumption of work and production," Shanghai Junshi Biosciences, a biopharmaceutical company, told China Times on Monday. "We are formulating epidemic prevention policies and resumption plans based on the guideline as well as the prevention and control requirements issued by the city."

Shanghai Hengrui Pharmaceutical Co Ltd said it has "started the procedures of resuming production and work, and, after recalling employees, will carry out closed-loop manufacturing in accordance with the government requirements."

Tesla Inc, which produces Model 3 and Model Y vehicles at its Shanghai plant, resumed production at its battery and machinery workshops on Tuesday, after 8,000-odd employees returned to the site on Sunday and Monday, the company said in a statement to China Daily late on Tuesday.