In a quiet township in the mountainous area of southwest China, a factory is buzzing. Affected by the novel coronavirus outbreak, the factory has just resumed production, and workers are busing loading cartons of new shoes into containers.
Lu Zhenfa, the owner of the factory, was carrying cartons with the workers. "These shoes will be sent to Lisbon in Portugal. There are two batches of shoes scheduled to be delivered to the United States," he said.
Lu, in his 40s, was a migrant worker who left his hometown in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality in 1993 and found a job in eastern Fujian Province.
He accumulated a fortune, skills and experience in 20 years there and returned to his hometown in Tangfang Township, Wuxi County in 2014. To help poor rural residents like himself, Lu built a shoe factory which has over 400 employees, and more than a quarter of them are from poverty-stricken families.
Although it is located deep in the Daba Mountains, Lu's factory is a global enterprise. All of his products are exported to overseas markets, with an output value of 80 million yuan (about 11.46 million U.S. dollars) in 2019.
Like many other companies, Lu gave a week-long Spring Festival vacation to his employees starting on Jan. 24. However, the factory reopened three weeks later due to the epidemic. Only 41 workers came back to the factory at first, while 170 others went back one week later.
Lu said that although production was not as efficient as it used to be, orders from across the world have not been affected yet.
"According to the contract, these shoes for Lisbon should have been delivered two weeks ago, but delivery was delayed due to the contagion," said Lu, adding that the delay should result in compensation, but "the Portuguese customer showed understanding for our difficulties and exempted us from paying the compensation."
The resumption of Lu's factory was a piece of very pleasant news for You Tianping, a villager in Wuxi. You returned to his post of cutting leather immediately.
"Staying at home, I can take care of my old parents, but I was worried about my income if the factory closed for too long," You said.
You's family used to make a living by growing corn and potatoes. But the barren land in the mountains can hardly make their lives better. "It is the development of industry in the rural areas that benefits more rural residents, creates jobs and improves local people's living standards," You said.
His family was delisted from impoverished households last year as he had a stable income working in the factory.
"I don't need to work odd jobs and be afraid of becoming poor again. It is a relief knowing the factory resumed production," You said.
To support the resumption of the factory, the local government also strengthened disinfection and quarantine in the factory and provided masks for the employees, Lu said.
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