China: Foxconn workers take big risks to flee COVID lockdown

Over the weekend, thousands of Foxconn factory workers in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou were filmed escaping the complex, which has been locked down for weeks due to a COVID outbreak.

Footage posted on social media showed droves of workers climbing fences with their belongings, sitting in the back of trucks, or walking along a road into the countryside. Cities in the region are now preparing for an influx of people escaping from the factory.

As one of the biggest suppliers of Apple’s iPhone, Taiwan-based Foxconn employs around 200,000 workers in Zhengzhou.