25 August 2022

Drought roiling China’s already evaporating economy

JEFF PAO

China’s southwestern Sichuan province has extended its factory shutdowns to Thursday due to a one-month-long heatwave and drought, marking the latest big global supply chain disruption to emanate from the crisis-hit country.

Foreign manufacturers including Apple and Toyota as well as Chinese solar power product cell makers had originally planned to resume production on Sunday after their six-day shutdowns ended on Saturday. However, the provincial government on Sunday released a Level 1 emergency response due to the extreme weather and ordered factories to stop work.

About 16,500 companies in Sichuan have reportedly been affected by the power shortage after reservoirs' water levels dropped and halved the province’s hydropower output.

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