SHANGHAI, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Swiss tech giant ABB has resumed the construction of its robotics factory in Shanghai, as the coronavirus outbreak has eased.
The company said its plan to put the new plant into operation in 2021 remains unchanged.
With a total investment of 150 million U.S. dollars, the plant broke ground in September last year and is designed to be the largest and most advanced factory of ABB worldwide.
With the help of local government, employees from local restaurants have started working in a warehouse of ABB after training, helping the company cope with the labor shortage due to the outbreak.
"We are optimistic about the prospect of China's intelligent manufacturing in the long term, and it has always been a very promising growth market here," said James Li, president of ABB Engineering (Shanghai) Ltd.
ABB's robot products are widely used in China's automobile manufacturing, electronics manufacturing, logistics, white goods and other industries. Companies that use ABB robots, such as FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co., Ltd. in Changchun, have resumed work as scheduled.
Zhang Zhiqiang, managing director of ABB China, said that while the coronavirus has a short-term impact on China's economic growth, it also creates opportunities for all industries to accelerate the digital and intelligent transformation.
"As the virus outbreak in China is brought under control and the demands rebound in various industries, ABB will continue to expand investment in China, contributing to China's economic development and stability of the global supply chain," said Zhang.
