China’s factories reopen

In this March 4, 2020, photo released by Xinhua News Agency, workers wearing mask labor in an electronic technology company in Mianxian County, northwestern China's Shaanxi province. Factories in China that make the world's smartphones, toys and other consumer goods are trying to protect their employees from a virus outbreak as they resume production. Manufacturers are buying masks by the thousands and jugs of disinfectant. The ruling Communist Party has told local officials to help reopen factories that were idled by the most intensive anti-disease controls ever imposed. - AP

BEIJING: Shi Xiaomin, who used to export suits and blazers by the thousands to South Korea, Netherlands and the United States, was luckier than many other Chinese factory owners.

When his factory in the eastern city of Wenzhou reopened last month after an extended shutdown due to the coronavirus outbreak, the local government sent a bus to a nearby province to ferry back more than 20 of his stranded workers. Staff with cars volunteered to fetch colleagues.