Photo/Illutration A road in Shanghai is empty due to lockdown on April 1. (Ryo Inoue)

SHANGHAI--Some 60 percent of Japanese companies with factories here continue to pause production more than a month since the COVID-19 lockdown began, a recent poll has found.

And it suggests it will take some time before operations can return to normal.

The Shanghai Japanese Commerce & Industry Club, an organization composed of Japanese companies in the city, conducted the survey between April 27 and 30.

It polled 125 Japanese businesses including its members and received 100 replies.

Fifty-four of the 100 companies have factories in Shanghai and 63 percent of them said their factories in the city are still not operating at all.

Around 30 percent said their local factories had operating rates of 30 percent or less.

This means that around 90 percent of Japanese companies with factories in the city are not operating as usual. 

Since the lockdown started in late March, Shanghai has seen restrictions on leaving home and logistical disruptions.

On the question asking what it would take to raise the operating rates of their factories, 89 percent of respondents said they need logistics to return to normal and 81 percent said they need to secure staff.

This suggests there are many hurdles to running the factories at full capacity again and that the impacts of the lockdown could linger for some time.

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