China locks down area around Foxconn’s iPhone City plant in Zhengzhou

China has ordered a seven-day lockdown of the area around Foxconn Technology Group’s main plant in Zhengzhou, a move that will severely curtail shipments in and out of the world’s largest iPhone factory.

The lockdown will last until Nov. 9, the local government said in a statement posted to its WeChat account. No vehicles are allowed to operate except for those carrying necessities, the government said. The notice emerged after Zhengzhou reported Covid-19 cases jumped to 359 for Tuesday, up from 95 the day before.

The abrupt action reflects Beijing’s Covid Zero approach to stamping out outbreaks and is likely to further disrupt Foxconn’s main operations base. The Taiwanese company, whose main listed arm is Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., is grappling with a Covid flare-up that forced some of its 200,000 staff into quarantine and pushed others to flee the facility - some on foot. The lockdown will complicate efforts to recruit and bring in new staff as well as ship production materials to keep operations going.