Tesla's Shanghai factory resumes production after over 20 days

Amid growing concerns over the economic growth risks in China due to the COVID-19 lockdown, American electric vehicle and clean energy company Tesla Inc resumed production at its Shanghai plant on Tuesday, as per Chinese media.

About 8,000 employees have returned to work in the US carmaker Tesla's factory so far, Xinhua News Agency reported citing the company.

Affected by the latest COVID-19 resurgence in Shanghai, the Shanghai Gigafactory had suspended production for over 20 days.

"We have full confidence in China's economy," said Tao Lin, vice president of Tesla, as per Xinhua News Agency, adding that "from the process of the current production resumption, we have seen China's ability to cope with challenges and we believe that normality will soon return."

Tao said that several government departments have worked almost round the clock to help enterprises resume work and production as quickly as possible.

The factory will need three to four days to boost its production gradually to full capacity, according to Song Gang, the factory's manufacturing and operation director, Xinhua reported.

According to the news agency, Tesla said it is promoting the resumption of production at more than 100 parts manufacturers with the help of relevant government departments.

Some provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Delta region have also been very supportive of Tesla's production resumption. Taizhou city in the neighboring Jiangsu Province has assisted local Tesla supply chain enterprises in their production resumption.

All factory employees will have to take an antigen test and a nucleic acid test each day. The company said that its production and office areas are subject to strict disinfection procedures and epidemic prevention measures are being carried out to ensure safe production.

Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory is the first wholly foreign-owned car manufacturing enterprise in China. Deliveries from the Shanghai Gigafactory stood at 484,130 vehicles last year, an increase of 235 percent from 2020 and accounting for 51.7 percent of Tesla's global production capacity in 2021, according to Xinhua.

On Tuesday, meanwhile, China reported 3,297 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. While lockdowns in cities are triggering cascading effects with Beijing staring at a national crisis.