China’s Zero-COVID: Exodus of panicked workers to avoid COVID lockdowns inside Apple’s biggest iPhone factory hits the Apple supply chain in China

In a dramatic turn of events, crowds of workers at Apple's largest iPhone factory in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan fled on foot to avoid the dreaded COVID-19 lockdown and infections inside the factory, hitting the Apple supply chain in China.

Pictures and video clips of workers jumping a fence outside the plant and walking back to their hometowns went viral on Chinese social media platform Weibo this weekend. Earlier, workers had taken to social media to complain about living conditions and raising concerns about further transmission and under-reporting of cases at the Apple assembly factory owned by Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group. At least 10 percent of the global iPhone production capacity is affected by the situation in Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory, according to analysts.

The Zhengzhou city of about 10 million people was partially locked down as China continues with its inflexible zero-Covid approach under the third term of President Xi Jinping. Authorities required people in some areas to stay at home and others to remain within their residential district. Non-essential businesses have been ordered to close, with only a few companies allowed to continue operations. In coordination with local authorities, Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory has now implemented closed-loop management measures and has pledged arrangements for employees to voluntarily stay in the factory and for those who wish to return home. However, there is no information so far as to how many workers are staying at the campus or how many are leaving.

The factory known 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. It is not clear how many COVID cases have been identified at the factory and the company says the outbreak situation is generally controllable. Foxconn’s Zhengzhou facility has hundreds of thousands of workers making it a small city-like setup. According to reports, residents along the route put up stalls to distribute food, water and clothes to them as groups of people walked along a highway and through small country roads to avoid checkpoints. 

Several cities from around Henan province had earlier issued public letters, urging the fleeing Foxconn workers to contact local authorities and promising to arrange for their return. Those heading home would have to undergo seven days of centralized quarantine followed by three days of home isolation, the statements from the various city authorities said sparking questions online about the severity of the Covid-19 situation in Zhengzhou. 

Under China's zero-Covid policy, cities wield enormous powers to act swiftly to quell any outbreaks of the virus leading to lockdowns just after handful of cases and travel restrictions. At the recently held 20th Communist Party congress, President Xi justified the policy and dashed any hopes of moving away from it in near future. Due to the uncertainties and economic cost of China’s Zero COVID policy, Apple and many other companies have started making strategic shift for their investments and supply chain management outside China, including in India, as they continuously faced disruptions in their supply chain.
Apple started manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017 with iPhone SE. In 2022, it rolled out its latest iPhone 14 in India at the same time as that of China. According to reports, Apple is planning to produce 25% of its phones in India by 2025 to diversify its China-focused manufacturing.