Swiss companies tremble with fears of supply disruption

When China sneezes, the entire world economy catches a cold. This past weekend is an example of that. The biggest protests in decades in China caused oil prices to plummet on Monday. World stock markets started the week with a decline.

The turmoil in Switzerland did not go unnoticed: After all, China has become the third most important exporting country for the Swiss economy in recent years, after Germany and the USA.

20 percent youth unemployment fuels protests

It is estimated that a fifth of Chinese are in isolation – that’s a few hundred million people. For the People’s Republic’s economy and local Swiss companies, this is a bigger challenge than the nationwide protests over the weekend.

“Swiss entrepreneurs haven’t visited their factories in China for three years,” says Rudolf Minsch, 55, a China expert at economic umbrella organization Economiesuisse. “Recent lockdowns provide a new boost to the supply issue.”

Memories are brought back to the height of the pandemic when supply chains around the world have been disrupted. The most harmless effect was the absence of Christmas presents under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.

Companies had to cancel orders because they couldn’t find spare parts, China’s economic growth collapsed and brought the global economy with it.

Unemployment among young people in China is 20 percent. They are the ones who take to the streets now. Is an entire country in turmoil? Not at all. In Shanghai, for example, an estimated several hundred people attended the weekend protests – from a population of 25 million.

Cell phone control on the street

“If you’re not there, everyday life seems perfectly normal,” says Swiss Abroad Roman L.*, who has lived in China for decades. He only wants to make public statements anonymously, for fear of retaliation. He was there out of curiosity at the weekend shows. “The police presence was enormous,” he says on the phone.

Screws are noticeably tightened elsewhere as well. “There are more and more cell phone controls,” says L. While shopping on the subway, security forces on the street ask you to hand over your smartphone. “They check for Twitter, Instagram or other banned apps on your phone.”

It remains to be seen next weekend whether the protests will continue. Then there may be new demonstrations and a wave of arrests. Local Swiss companies do not move their feet and hope the government will follow the protests and find a soft way out of the zero Covid policy.

* Name known to editors