On his first day back to work, Mao Huanju, deputy general manager of the Hunan Machinery and Equipment import and Export Corporation, encountered a problem.
A batch of equipment scheduled to be shipped to the Philippines on March 18 could not be delivered on time due to the outbreak of COVID-19 which has delayed production for companies as quarantine measures held back many workers from returning to their posts, and workers of Mao's company could not travel to the country for installation.
Although the Philippine client expressed its understanding after the outbreak of the epidemic, the liquidated damages for the delay of the export still need to be paid, which will be a big economic loss for Mao's company.
Mao then dialed the legal aid hotline of the Hunan branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) to seek support.
The CCPIT has issued over 1,600 force majeure certificates by mid-February for companies involving over 30 sectors, covering a total contract value of 109.9 billion yuan (about 15.7 billion U.S. dollars). The certificate exonerates companies from not performing or partially performing contractual duties by proving they are suffering from circumstances beyond their control.
As of Feb. 7, more than 1,000 questionnaires have been handed out by the Hunan branch of the CCPIT via the Internet to learn the difficulties of foreign-related enterprises in central China's Hunan Province about their international operations under the epidemic situation. A legal support working group of the CCPIT's Hunan branch was also set up to give advice to relevant enterprises.
"I applied on Feb. 10 and got the certificate the next day," Mao said, the certificate objectively explained the situation of the epidemic and helped save the losses that might be caused by the delay of delivery.
From Feb. 3 to 24, the CCPIT's Hunan branch has issued 37 force majeure certificates to 32 enterprises in the province, involving contracts worth 366.75 million U.S. dollars, with more than 20 countries including Bangladesh, Russia, UAE, the Philippines, Guinea and Indonesia.
about 200 kilometers away in the Shaoyang Economic Development Zone, also in Hunan Province, workers in the Topim Intelligent Manufacturing (Shao Yang) Co., Ltd. have been busy with production to meet the increasing number of overseas orders.
As an intelligent small household appliance manufacturer integrating research, development and production, the company's intelligent kitchen appliances and other products are popular in overseas markets.
"Recently, there has been a large number of new orders, and we have to continue to recruit more new staff," said Liu Tao, director of the human resources center of the company.
Since the Spring Festival, the company's new orders increased by 30 percent on average, according to Liu. After the resumption of production, the company recruited new workers through WeChat and other online approaches in order to speed up the production. So far, Liu has received more than 300 applicant's resumes.
"After receiving the CV, we will conduct outdoor interviews for job applicants in batches," Liu said, adding that the Shaoyang Economic Development Zone provides "door-to-door services" for companies during the interviews.
Staff from the economic development zone will help enterprises check the applicants' travel history before the interview.
A qualified third-party testing institution has also been invited to conduct the new coronavirus nucleic acid testing for qualified candidates so as to ensure that the factory is virus-free. Meanwhile, half of the testing cost will be paid by the development zone.
As of Feb. 24, the Shaoyang Economic Development Zone has conducted nucleic acid tests for 1,439 people from 10 enterprises including export enterprises such as Topim and Sany Heavy Industry Co., Ltd.
