Chinese anti-virus lockdowns add to concerns over economy

China’s lockdowns of big cities to fight coronavirus outbreaks are prompting concern about more disruptions to global industries after two makers of processor chips said their factories were affected. That has added to unease about the omicron variant’s global economic impact. Analysts warn Vietnam, Thailand and other countries important to manufacturing chains might impose anti-disease measures that would delay deliveries.

“Lockdowns in China are already causing disruptions,” economists at Nomura said in a report Friday.

The Chinese economy already was cooling under pressure from unrelated official efforts to force real estate developers and other companies to reduce surging debt that fueled China’s boom over the past two decades. The biggest city in China’s latest lockdowns is Xi’an, a metropolis of 13 million people in the west. It is less significant as a manufacturer than Wuhan, the central city that shut down in 2020 after the first coronavirus cases were spotted there. But Xi’an has factories that make processor chips for smartphones, auto parts and other goods for global and Chinese brands.

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