The new Apple store in Sanlitun, Chaoyang district in Beijing Photo: cnsphoto

The suspension of Foxconn operations in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province will have a limited impact on its overall business, industrial insiders said, after work was halted at two plants of the major iPhone assembler on Monday due to the COVID-19 spike in the city. 

The operations of major iPhone assembler Foxconn in Shenzhen were suspended from Monday onwards in compliance with the local government's new COVID-19 policy, the Global Times learned from the company.

A confirmed date for the resumption of operations is yet to be advised by the local government, and the company has adjusted the production line to minimize the potential impact, according to a statement sent by Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) to the Global Times on Monday.

"We have required all employees to have COVID PCR tests on top of existing prevention measures to ensure the health and safety of our employees," the company said.

An industrial source told the Global Times on Monday that Foxconn's plants in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan Province and Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, are operating as usual. Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory is one of the largest assembly sites for iPhones in the world. 

"The impact on the overall business could be limited," the source said. 

The  COVID-19 outbreak in Shenzhen has brought Foxconn's two major plants in Longhua Science Park and Guanlan Science Park in Shenzhen to a halt.

The two plants cover 2.3 square kilometers and 2.95 square kilometers, respectively, including staff accommodation, restaurants and other living areas.

At its peak, Longhua Park alone was home to more than 200,000 workers.

According to Jiemian.com, the two plants mainly produce mobile communication terminal equipment, and they are original equipment manufacturers (OEM) for Apple's iPhone.

The factories also produce and assemble accessories for the iPad and iMac, as well as products for other consumer electronics brands.

Foxconn has more than 40 plants scattered in the Chinese mainland, according to media reports.

"The suspension of a few plants will not be fatal to its overall production, but this change in the production schedule will more or less affect some of the capacity," Liu Dingding, a Beijing-based technology industry observer, told the Global Times on Monday. 

Starting from Monday, all enterprises in Shenzhen are required to arrange for all employees to work from home, or else to suspend production and business activities, excluding those providing essential public services, local authorities announced on Sunday.

The city will carry out three rounds of city-wide testing from Monday to Sunday, as the local COVID-19 situation continues to worsen.

Shenzhen reported 75 new COVID-19 cases and 11 silent carriers on Sunday.