Chinese virus cases climb, raise threat of trade disruption

Anti-virus controls have forced auto and electronics makers to shut factories in China and are raising risks of wider disruptions if the curbs spread to Chinese ports that are among the world’s busiest

BEIJING -- Chinese authorities on Tuesday tightened anti-virus controls at ports, raising the risk of trade disruptions after some auto and electronics factories shut down as the government fights coronavirus outbreaks.

Stock prices in China and Hong Kong sank for a second day following the shutdown on Monday of Shenzhen, a tech and finance hub adjacent to Hong Kong in the south, and Changchun, an auto center in the northeast. Bus service to Shanghai, China's business capital and biggest city, was suspended.

China’s case numbers are low compared with other major countries or Hong Kong. But authorities are enforcing a “zero tolerance” strategy that aims to keep the virus out of the country. It has temporarily shut down major cities to find every infected person.

The restrictions have wider potential ramifications, coming at a time when the global economy is under pressure from Russia’s war on Ukraine, surging oil prices and weak consumer demand.