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 Japanese automaker Toyota said operations at its joint-venture in
Tianjin, which has annual production capacity of 620,000 vehicles,
had been halted since Monday due to the impact on suppliers of
mandatory COVID-19 testing of city residents.
"We plan to resume operations as soon as the government's
instructions and the safety and security of the local community and
suppliers are confirmed and assured," Toyota said in a statement to
Reuters.
China, which has stuck to what is effectively a "zero-COVID" policy,
is scrambling to prevent the spread of the highly infectious Omicron
variant ahead of the Lunar New Year travel season later this month -
and as Beijing prepares to stage the Winter Olympics from Feb. 4.
The Games will take place in a "closed loop", without international
spectators.
On Wednesday, China announced the suspension of several
international flights due to positive COVID-19 cases.
Across the country, several cities are requiring those arriving from
Tianjin to quarantine, and many are encouraging people to stay put
during the Lunar New Year, typically the busiest time of year for
travel.
Tianjin, around 100 km (62 miles) southeast of Beijing, reported 33
domestically transmitted coronavirus infections with confirmed
symptoms for Tuesday, up from 10 on Monday, national data showed. It
did not specify how many of the infections were Omicron, after
reporting two such cases over the weekend.
LEGISLATIVE POSTPONEMENT
Tianjin ordered a half-day off for employees at companies and other
institutions on Wednesday, and required them to keep activities
"relatively static" to comply with its second round of mass testing.
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 The state-owned manager of the
city's port, the world's eighth-largest by
container throughput, said operations continued
as employees were tested.
China is likely to see ramped-up restrictions to
contain Omicron, Goldman Sachs analysts said in
a note revising down their 2022 growth forecast
to 4.3% from 4.8% previously, citing economic
costs from the potentially intensified measures.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley also said they saw
downside risk to their first-quarter growth
forecast for the world's second largest economy
this year, as Omicron could "imply more costs
than benefits under China's COVID-zero
strategy".
In the central province of Henan, the city of
Anyang, where Omicron has also been detected in
the community, reported 65 local symptomatic
cases on Tuesday, a surge from just two a day
earlier.
Case numbers in Tianjin and Anyang are tiny
compared with outbreaks in many other countries,
and the total number of local Omicron infections
is unclear.
Still, Tianjin has made it harder for people to
leave town, while Anyang ordered residents to
remain indoors during mass testing, except for
those in essential jobs or undergoing their
tests.
Mainland China reported a total of 166 local
symptomatic cases for Tuesday, more than 110 a
day earlier.
(Reporting by Tony Munroe, Roxanne Liu, Stella
Qiu, and Ella Cao in Beijing, Tim Kelly in
Tokyo; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Mark
Heinrich)
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