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China’s Henan goes on charm offensive to assure Foxconn chairman of comprehensive ‘services’ for world’s largest iPhone factory

  • The Chinese Communist Party ’s Secretary in Henan met Foxconn’s Liu Young-way three months after the firm’s plant in Zhengzhou was rocked by riots
  • The meeting on Wednesday marked China’s latest effort to preserve its major role in Apple’s manufacturing supply chain

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Foxconn Technology Group chairman and chief executive Liu Young-way thanked officials of Henan province for helping the firm continue production at the world’s largest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, the provincial capital, during a Covid-19 outbreak last year. Photo: EPA-EFE
Ann Caoin Shanghai
A top official in central Henan province, home to the world’s largest iPhone factory, has called on the head of Foxconn Technology Group to keep its local operations and investment amid recent initiatives by the company and other Apple suppliers to expand their manufacturing supply chain outside China.
Lou Yangsheng, the Chinese Communist Party’s Secretary in Henan, on Wednesday met Foxconn chairman and chief executive Liu Young-way, who was visiting the province, to assure the company that the government will provide comprehensive “services” to its local operations, according to a statement posted on the official WeChat account of the municipal government of Zhengzhou, the provincial capital.

Foxconn, which had been derisively described as a “sweatshop” by some non-governmental organisations many years ago, was complimented by Lou as “a world-renowned intelligent manufacturing enterprise”, adding that he hoped the Taiwan- based company will “take root in Henan and deeply cultivate in Henan”, according to the statement.

That charm offensive marks China’s latest effort to preserve its major role in Apple’s manufacturing supply chain, following the disruptions caused by rigid Covid-19 control measures and ongoing concerns about geopolitical tensions with the US.

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Apple chief executive Tim Cook earlier this month said that manufacturing disruptions in November and December contributed to the firm’s first quarterly decline in revenue since early 2019, in an apparent reference to the unrest late last year at Foxconn’s iPhone production complex in Zhengzhou.
Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, is the single largest importer and exporter in Henan, according to local newspaper Henan Daily, which described the company’s operations in Zhengzhou as having a major impact on the local economy.
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