While COVID cases continue to fall in Hawaiʻi and across the United States, the virus is still disrupting life across much of Asia. And this week there’s a new threat to a number of global supply chains.
If you were to pick one spot in the Asia Pacific as a crucial gateway for regional manufacturing and technology, the Chinese port of Shenzhen would not be a bad choice.
Just north of Hong Kong, it’s an important manufacturing and technology center for companies from Apple to China’s largest maker of electric cars.
It’s also an important ocean port for container ships — and one of China’s busiest transport centers for air cargo.
Back in 1980, China’s central government declared Shenzhen the country’s first Special Economic Zone — part of the reforms then-leader Deng Xiaoping instituted to spark global exports.
Today, the city is a major regional research and development hub for South Korea’s Samsung and Germany’s Siemens, and headquarters for Chinese corporate giants like video game maker and technology conglomerate Tencent and telecom company Huawei.
Today, Shenzhen is also under lockdown, following a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases.
The government ordered the action on Sunday — with the initial shutdown lasting a week.
The 17.5 million residents of the city will be tested for the virus three times this week.
Multinational companies — and the markets where their shares are traded — are watching to see how long that disruption will last.
