China’s NEW COVID control policy and the impact of COVID on the bone china industry

Introduction

This article is about the COVID policies in China, a close introduction to the impact of COVID on the bone china industry in Tangshan, China.

What’s China’s COVID control policy?

China’s COVID control measurements’ impact on the economy

COVID impact on bone china industry in China

Suggestions for the buyers who need to import bone china products from China

China’s COVID control policy

What’s China’s COVID control policy?

COVID has been spread for about 3 years now, and the policies to fight it differ from time to time, from place to place. To minimize the impact of the epidemic on the economy, society, production, and people’s normal lives, and to balance the prevention and control of this disease with socio-economic stability, China adopted a new strategy called “Dynamic COVID-zero” from August 2021.

The core is to take effective and comprehensive measures to deal with localized COVID-19 cases precisely, to quickly cut off the transmission chain, and end the epidemic in a timely manner (to “find one, end one”). In other words, China took precise prevention and control measures to quickly find, control, and cure infected people in each cluster outbreak within a specific geographic region to avoid affecting social and economic development in other regions, so as to achieve the maximum effect at the lowest cost.

How does it work?

 When there is a local recurrence, epidemic prevention staff will quickly find close contacts using new technologies like big data analysis before the spread in the golden response time (within 24 hours after each outbreak). The aim is to find and control potentially infected individuals in advance and try to end the outbreak within one or two maximum incubation periods (Figure 2). Big data technology can quickly identify close contacts and risk groups, helping to implement precise prevention and control measures.

The formulation and implementation of this strategy require extensive community involvement, government funding guarantees, application of new technology, motivating mechanisms, constraint mechanisms, and a resilient health system. Strict quarantine and management measures can be subsequently implemented.

This strategy is a summary of China’s experience in dealing with the spread of the Delta variant, considering how to control the epidemic at a higher level, at a lower cost, and in a shorter time.

How does COVID-19 affect China’s economy?

The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting families, networks, and organizations worldwide;  It not only harms people’s health, but it has also harmed countries’ financial activities. Controlling the epidemic has necessitated monstrous lockdowns and travel restrictions in China, which have changed human behaviors and hampered contemporary exercises, posing challenges and vulnerabilities to the national economy and human social systems.

China was the first country to announce COVID-19 and is the best at mitigating the pandemic’s effects back to 2020, while the world was fighting the virus and in lockdowns, we were living a relatively free life and factories functioned normally. While the Omicron, with its sneaky and hidden features, has now placed great pressure on China, the rest of the world is trying to gradually get back to normal.

In the first half year of 2022, with the outburst of COVID in Shanghai, China has seen its worst COVID outbreak since the initial height of the pandemic in early 2020 — when the economy contracted. The latest surge in cases, which stems from the highly transmissible omicron variant, has forced some manufacturing hubs across the country to suspend or limit production.

The omicron wave “could cause significant downside to China’s GDP growth and disruption to the global supply chains in the near term, and potentially accelerate the decoupling and supply chain relocation in the medium term.” considering the spillover effect on other regions, the lockdown and tightened quarantine measures this round could potentially deduct ~0.5-0.8 ppt of GDP growth in Q1, assuming no policy responses.

The impact of COVID on the foreign trade business

The external demand shrank dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For one thing, New export orders of some manufacturing enterprises dropped sharply, and even the ones already in production were canceled. As high as 57.7% of the companies reported a lack of demand, and that it will take time to recover as some are facing difficulties in sales. For another thing,  the drop in the new export orders sub-index indicates that the pandemic’s impact on the world economy and international trade has emerged, putting downward pressure on China’s exports. 

With local clustered epidemics have occurred in many places in our country, mainly of the Omicron variant, while compared to some large countries, the cases roll may seem small, but since China has taken a zero-tolerance approach to outbreaks that calls for stringent lockdowns as well as mass testing and quarantine in government facilities. the aggressive measures are taken to contain it has affected the Chinese economy. Many factories are claiming to have a difficult this year.

as the industry center for the world, we’ve suffered a series of problems caused by COVID. Lockdowns have also suspended work at ceramic factories, orders can’t deliver on time.in the industry has been hit hard by the epidemic and the ensuing lockdown, the influence depending on how long the restrictions last.

Cities have closed highway exits or demanded that each driver show a negative P.C.R. test — requirements that have also created miles-long lines of trucks trying to carry crucial raw material among factories and for the drivers who get the containers back and from the port for the delivery of the cargoes. The convenience slows down the speed of production as well as the delivery.

Trucks are being delayed by the testing of drivers. Container rates are rising as ships wait for many hours at ports. Products are piling up in warehouses.

A series of such serious problems have contributed to the drop in sales for international businesses.

COVID impact on bone china industry in China

For the bone china industry, COVID’s impact on the bone china industry is very bad, undoubtedly had a significant impact on the industry, with production lines being shut down, supply networks being disrupted, and customer demand being reduced.

Here in Tangshan, China, we’ve suffered from a 2-month long production disruption due to the outbroke of COVID since late March, production has gradually gotten back to normal since late May.

The ceramic industry has been severely disrupted since mid-March due to strict quarantine restrictions, unlike some firms that can work remotely at home, all the ceramic products need to be done in the workshop. Even after the COVID gets controlled, ceramic manufacturers’ near-term challenges remain, despite the partial resumption of production from mid-April, including worker immobility, raw material shortages, and logistical hurdles.

People are required to wear masks all the time in public places and pay attention to personal hygiene, stay at a social distance, tests are taken on a weekly basis for the early detection of COVID, and factories and facilities are educated to pay close attention to daily sterilize to ensure the safety of the working environment. Prevention drills are taking place so that the government is ready to seal up affected areas and launch a testing scheme once the infection is detected.

All these measures are taken to prevent the spread of COVID.

Suggestions for people who are importing bone china from China.

There is no firm answer to the questions like “Will your bone china factory function normally during the epidemic” “When will the isolation end” or “When can you resume work” if there are new cases of COVID in your city. Experience from previous is that once there are any new cases, the government will do whatever it can to control it, at the cost of the economy, especially in the middle or small cities With uncertainty in scale and duration of the restrictions.

However, the following tips might help your business to function smoothly and get your bone china products on time during the difficult time.

Seek backup suppliers, especially from two different regions. it will help you respond swiftly when one place is locked down. If there is a time that be prepared for rainy days, it is now. Having a backup supplier in place will help companies get products out on time and with minimal disruptions caused by an unexpected increase in demand or regulatory issues with a primary source, thus ensuring a timely delivery schedule and ensuring a continuous supply of bone china products.

To customize products, may seem tricky at the beginning, but while timely delivery means even more than the price in international trading, the efforts are necessary for the business to operate or even grow in the difficult time.

Working with a responsive supplier and staying in close connection with your supplier. Always keep in pace with the status of the city, the factory, and the production, so you can get the timely information needed for the reaction if anything unexpected happened.

Make an annual plan and place orders in advance, to give your Chinese supplier, or I would rather say partner, to have more time to prepare what you need, they can be aware of what is safe and necessary to prepare in advance and make arrangements that best fit your needs, thus minimum the influence of the COVID to your business. While even the most prepared businesses will be impacted by these new lockdowns in China, as flexibility within the supply chain is minimal, what we can do is work full speed when we can.

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