We would like to inform you, after consulting our partner M+R Forwarding in China, regarding congestion and possible delays due to the health situation in China.
Currently as you have seen from different media outlets the Coronavirus situation is evolving very fast, causing challenges and disruptions to supply chain operations.
Our China Management team is closely following the situation and would like to share with you the latest update on the situation.
- None of our employees and their close relatives in China has been contaminated nor being suspected of carrying the virus. Health and Safety guidelines as well as preventive checks on their journeys during the Lunar New Year holidays are being carried out. We are sending protective and monitoring equipment to all our offices. An employee health emergency reporting system has been set up.
- The General Office of the State Council has announced the extension of the Chinese New Year holiday until February 2nd. However, municipalities including Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing, Wuxi, Hangzhou, Ningbo as well as Guangzhou and Shenzhen have already announced a further extension and compulsory closure of companies up to February 9th. It is anticipated that other provinces may follow the same direction. We shall communicate any update on daily basis. So far, the specific arrangement of offices as follows:
- M+R Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Xiamen will resume work on 3 February 2020 (Monday).
- M+R Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing, Chongqing, Wuhan, Ningbo, Guangzhou and Shenzhen offices will resume work on 10 February 2020 (Monday).
- Based on the above constraints, M+R China is currently planning a resumption of work in compliance with government guidelines while activating on-line contact and remote operations management, supported by Asia management is coordinating a task force on the subject and adapting our procedures and contingency plans according to the situation.
- Port, airports, rail and China customs are still operating as per normal in this holiday period (except Wuhan that remain largely locked down). However, congestion is expected due to the limited number of trailers available. Detailed SOP per mode of transport will be communicated in the coming days.
We are responding actively to the call of prevention and control of disease with two priorities at heart:
- Guaranteeing the health and safety of our employees and their families
- Limiting to the minimum the impact on our customers' supply chain.
We encourage you to be in touch with your respective sales or operations in order to address any specific enquiry you may have.
We will of course continue to keep you updated as situation evolves and will do our utmost to minimize the impact to your business.