Since the outbreak of this round of epidemic, Shanghai has been adhering to the general policy of “dynamic zero-COVID” without wavering, and effectively coordinating the prevention and control of the epidemic with economic and social development, and has achieved phased results in the prevention and control of the epidemic. Under the impact of the epidemic, the safety and stability of the industrial chain and supply chain in Shanghai have raised considerable concern.

As the leader of the Yangtze River Delta region and the city of economic hub of China, Shanghai occupies an important position and plays an irreplaceable and vital role in the national and even the global industrial chain and supply chain. It is undeniable that this round of epidemic has had an impact on the economic and social development of Shanghai and the normal life of the people, and the industrial chain and supply chain has inevitably been affected to some extent. Especially during the initial period of the epidemic, the strict control measures taken for the prevention and control of the epidemic did create a development “vacuum” in Shanghai’s economic and social operations for a period of time, with many enterprises stopping work and production, resulting in short-term disruptions and even localized breaks in the industrial chain and supply chain. This intermittent blockage and localized break in the industrial chain and supply chain posed some problems and impact on the prevention and control of the epidemic and the functioning of the city in Shanghai in the early stages of the epidemic. However, in the face of the impact and influence of this major epidemic, Shanghai withstood a severe test, adhering to the general policy of “dynamic zero-COVID”, strictly implementing various epidemic prevention and control measures, and making every effort to stop the spread of the epidemic, thus gaining valuable time to initiate an orderly resumption of work and production and promoting the restoration of the smooth industrial chain and supply chain, as well as creating the necessary prerequisites for the resumption of work and the stockpiling of production and living materials. It is by adhering to the general policy of “dynamic zero-COVID” and always anchoring on the goal of zero-COVID at the community level, Shanghai has withstood the enormous pressure of epidemic prevention and control, and in a relatively short period of time, the industrial chain and supply chain have stabilized and shown a continuous improvement in recovery.

While doing its utmost to control the spread of the epidemic, Shanghai also took a series of powerful measures to ensure and maintain the basic stability and smooth operation of the industrial chain and supply chain by resuming work and production first in key industries, key enterprises and major projects, pulling the whole industrial chain and supply chain to recover and develop, and coordinating to clear the blockages and chokepoints that hinder the normal operation of the industrial chain and supply chain, etc.

During the lockdown period of epidemic control, some enterprises in Shanghai maintain production and operation without interruption under closed-loop management, which in a way play an important supporting role in ensuring that the industrial chain and supply chain in Shanghai do not break. Data released by Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization shows that since the mid-to-late March, a total of more than 1,000 industrial enterprises above the designated scale have been maintaining production under closed-loop management. What is particularly noteworthy is that Shanghai has developed and implemented a “white list” system for resuming work and production, giving priority to supporting and guaranteeing key leading enterprises and major projects in key industries such as integrated circuits, automobile manufacturing, equipment manufacturing and biomedicine, etc. to take the lead in resuming production, and using the leading enterprises in key industries as traction to lead and drive more upstream and downstream related enterprises to resume production, thus promoting key industrial chains and supply chains to continue to restore and increase production capacity.

According to statistics, Shanghai has promoted more than 3,000 “white-listed” enterprises in three batches to resume work and production in key areas such as strategic functions, city operation support, epidemic prevention materials, continuous production and infrastructure support, etc., with an overall resumption rate of more than 70%, of which the first batch of 666 enterprises have resumed work at a rate of more than 95%, and 847 foreign-funded enterprises have resumed work at a rate of 80%. At present, of the more than 9,000 industrial enterprises above the designated scale in Shanghai, more than 4,400 have resumed work, accounting for nearly 50% of the total. Among them, the automobile industry, a pillar industry in Shanghai, is rapidly resuming production in an increasing number of Shanghai’s automotive enterprises. Take the field of integrated circuits as another example. Shanghai chip manufacturing enterprises have been maintaining more than 90% of their production capacity. SMIC, Huahong Group, and GTA Semiconductor, etc. have been maintaining their full production capacity, driving a number of industrial chain supporting enterprises in equipment, materials, packaging and testing, etc. to accelerate their resumption of work.

These data and cases show that since the outbreak of this round of epidemic, although the safety and stability of the industrial chain and supply chain of Shanghai have been greatly challenged, they have generally remained fundamentally safe and stable, and have accelerated the trend of continuous improvement in recovery. While safeguarding the prevention and control of the epidemic and the functioning of the city, they have also laid a solid foundation for promoting more main market players to speed up the resumption of work and production and the full restoration of production and living order in the city. From a longer-term perspective, Shanghai’s efforts in coordinating epidemic prevention and chain stabilization, ensuring the smooth flow of the industrial chain and supply chain, and stabilizing the general cycle of industrial chain not only inject strong impetus into the recovery and high-quality development of the Shanghai and even the national economy, but also are of great significance to the smooth flow of the domestic and international dual circulation and the maintenance of the basic stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain.



Source: Jiefang Daily

By Sheng Lei (Researcher at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Institute of World Economy)