Apple’s iPhone supplier Foxconn leases new site in Zhengzhou in sign of commitment to China’s supply chain

Name: Violence erupts at world’s largest iPhone factory over benefits and Covid-19 controls
Uploaded: 2023-02-28T09:30:09.000Z
Duration: 1 min 51 s
Description: Violence erupts at world’s largest iPhone factory over benefits and Covid-19 controls

The Taiwanese company has rented a new plot of land from the government in Zhengzhou, central China, to build smart warehouses

The deal was announced days after Foxconn CEO Liu Young-way met the Chinese Communist Party’s Secretary in Henan province

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Employees during lunchtime at a Foxconn plant in Zhengzhou, Henan province in January. Photo: Bloomberg

Iris Dengin Shenzhen

Published: 5:30pm, 28 Feb 2023

Apple’s leading electronics contract manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group is expanding its presence in Zhengzhou, the central Chinese city that is home to the world’s largest iPhone plant, after efforts by government officials to convince the Taiwanese assembler to keep its local operations.

Taiwan-listed Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, has leased a 293-acre plot in the Zhengzhou Comprehensive Bonded Zone for around 197 million yuan (US$28 million), according to an exchange filing on Monday.

The company plans to build smart warehouses at the new site, which is rented from Zhengzhou’s natural resources and planning bureau and other local authorities through the firm’s subsidiary Hongfujin Precision Electronics (Zhengzhou) Co.

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Violence erupts at world’s largest iPhone factory over benefits and Covid-19 controls

The deal was announced days after Foxconn chairman and CEO Liu Young-way visited Zhengzhou, where he met Lou Yangsheng, the Chinese Communist Party’s Secretary in central Henan province.

Officials assured Liu that the government would provide comprehensive “services” to Foxconn’s local operations, and urged the firm to “take root” in Henan, according to a statement published by the municipal government of Zhengzhou, the provincial capital.

Foxconn is the 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.

However, the iPhone maker’s operation in Zhengzhou was severely disrupted late last year by the exodus of tens of thousands of employees and worker protests that turned violent amid a coronavirus outbreak that began in October.

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