Workers check new energy vehicles at a logistics park in Liuzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, March 8, 2021. Liuzhou is a famous automobile industrial base. In recent years, local new energy automobile industry has seen vigorous development.Photo:Xinhua

SAIC Motor, China's largest automaker, said they are preparing to resume production as Shanghai's lockdown has disturbed their supply chain.

We are cooperating with the government to prevent epidemics, maintain and renovate equipment, and make careful preparations for production under epidemic prevention conditions, a reply sent to the Global Times said on Friday, when asked when the group will resume production. 

When asked of a specific date, the group said they have a plan, but the plan will be adjusted according to the epidemic control measures and their own preparations.

The response came after reports on Friday that SAIC will start the test of production resumption on Monday after receiving feedback on Sunday. The company requires returning employees to have nucleic acid tests every 48 hours. 

Global Times learned that some factories under SAIC Motors are still in production, like 4,000 staffers at its Lingang base which is still in close-loop management. 

SAIC Motor sold 322,000 vehicles in February, up 30.6 percent year-on-year, according to data released on March 4 by the company.

As one of the largest automobile clusters in China, Shanghai is home to many of the top 100 global auto parts companies, and there are thousands of large-scale suppliers, but some factories are suspending operations.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that German auto parts supplier Bosch has suspended production at two sites in Shanghai and Changchun in Northeast China's Jilin Province as it follows government policies to contain a surge of COVID-19 cases.

He Xiaopeng, CEO of electric-vehicle firm Xpeng said on Thursday on his personal WeChat account that "if the supply chain factories in Shanghai and neighboring regions cannot find a way to dynamically resume work and production, all OEMs in China may face shutdowns by May."

But he added that the situation faced by the auto industry has been closely watched by  authorities, and the ministries and authorities are coordinating. 

Tesla's Shanghai factory suspended operations on March 28 because of restrictions in the city, and the factory has not decided when to resume operations. 

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Friday that it conducted a survey of key enterprises and foreign-funded projects that have been greatly affected by the epidemic, and established a "white list" of key enterprises in the industrial and information fields to ensure operations, so that 666 enterprises in key industries can resume work. 

Global Times