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ChinaPolitics

Biggest iPhone factory in China pledges safe passage after Covid-19 outbreak sends workers fleeing on foot

  • Foxconn plant in Zhengzhou promises bus service for workers wishing to leave and safe work conditions for those who stay back
  • Move comes after city authorities sent task force over viral social media clips showing workers walking back to their hometowns

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The Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou, billed as the world’s largest iPhone facility, put strict coronavirus control measures in place earlier this month. Photo: AFP
Kandy Wong

A Covid-hit iPhone assembly factory in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou issued three notices on Sunday, pledging to arrange safe passage for workers wishing to leave and a sanitised environment for those who choose to stay on.

The notices came shortly after city authorities sent a pandemic task force to the plant, in response to viral social media clips showing workers fleeing on foot.
The factory, run by Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group and billed as the world’s biggest iPhone facility, had imposed strict coronavirus control measures on campus about 10 days ago. The rules included daily tests and a ban on dining in canteens, the Post reported last week.

Workers had turned to social media to complain about living conditions, saying they were having to stay with Covid-positive colleagues, and raising concerns about further transmission and under-reporting of cases.

Video clips circulating widely over the weekend appeared to show some workers had fled the factory in the Henan provincial capital, choosing to walk back to their hometowns to avoid checkpoints, as China continues with its strict zero-Covid approach to all outbreaks.

Social media posts, some from the workers themselves and others from passers-by, showed groups of people walking along a highway and through small country roads, as residents along the route put up stalls to distribute food, water and clothes to them.

Foxconn workers make their way home from Zhengzhou on foot. Photo: Weibo
Foxconn workers make their way home from Zhengzhou on foot. Photo: Weibo

On Sunday, mainland media cited the official WeChat account of the Zhengzhou government to report that Foxconn was arranging bus services for released staff, with at least seven pickup points.

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