Huawei, Chinese chip makers keep factories humming

SHANGHAI: Some technology firms in China have maintained operations to manufacture parts and products despite government calls in various cities and provinces for companies to halt work to help stop the spread of a new coronavirus.

Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd said yesterday it had resumed production of goods including consumer devices and carrier equipment, and operations were running normally.

The company restarted manufacturing after the Lunar New Year holiday in line with a special exemption that allows certain critical industries to remain in operation, despite Beijing’s call to halt all work in some cities and provinces.

The spokesman said most of the production was in Dongguan, a city in southern Guangdong province.

Yangtze Memory Technologies Co Ltd (YMTC), a state-backed maker of flash memory chips based in Wuhan confirmed that it had not ceased production. “At present, production and operations at YMTC are proceeding normally and in an orderly manner,“a company spokesman wrote in a statement.

Meanwhile, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp also kept production running through the holiday break. The company has facilities in Tianjin, Shenzhen, Beijing, and Shanghai.

Overseas parts makers with factories in China have also continued production.

Samsung Electronics has not seen a production disruption at its chip factory in Xian, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Representatives of Samsung Display, SK Hynix and LG Display also said they were running their Chinese factories as usual. – Reuters