China's Covid controls are pushing companies to diversify away from a 'start-stop economy'
After a Covid outbreak at a Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou, China, some workers chose to go home. Pictured here are the shuttle buses on Oct. 30, 2022. Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images BEIJING — China's decision to maintain Covid controls is pushing companies to look to factories outside the country, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit. "What we are hearing from companies [is] they are moving ahead with their supply chain diversification plans because this start-stop economy is here to stay," said Nick Marro, global trade leader at The Economist Intelligence Unit. "If it's an on-off economy, if things can't get done, that impacts decision-making," he said. "We don't expect companies to leave China. We just expect them to diversify their footprint, China plus one." Beijing's stringent Covid controls helped the country resume work while the rest of the world still struggled with the pandemic in 2020. While other countrie...