The Waigaoqiao Bonded Area [Photo/WeChat account of Shanghai FTZ]

All major companies above the designated scale in the bonded area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (Shanghai FTZ) had resumed operations as of Feb 26, according to an announcement made by the bonded area management bureau of the management committee of the Shanghai FTZ.

According to statistics, as of Feb 26, 90.71 percent of companies in the bonded area had resumed operations, and a total of 61,138 employees had returned to work.

Local authorities in the bonded area offered logistical and financial assistance to help companies resume operations and guarantee the supply of overseas orders.

"Our production capacity has fully recovered and all is running smoothly," said Cao Chilun, president of Amkor Assembly & Test (Shanghai) Co Ltd, "orders from overseas have not been delayed, and some customers even increased their orders."

Amkor Assembly & Test (Shanghai) Co Ltd is one of China's 10 largest semiconductor testing companies. It has the largest number of employees among companies in the Shanghai FTZ bonded area.

The company tests and packages 4.2 billion chips annually. Its customers include SMIC, Apple and Samsung.

It wasn't easy for the company to continue to provide essential components for foreign companies during the outbreak.

"The epidemic is really testing our resilience and forcing us to improve the business climate," said Chen Yanfeng, deputy director of the bonded area management bureau.

He went on to say that the bureau is doing everything it can to help companies in the bonded area complete overseas orders, as many companies in the area are reliant on international trade.

It is of utmost importance for companies in the bonded area, as well as the bonded area as a whole, to guarantee global supply chains, as many companies in the area supply products for both Chinese and foreign companies.

For instance, nearly 100 transnational companies have set up their regional headquarters in the Waigaoqiao bonded area, a part of the Shanghai FTZ bonded area.

After learning that Amkor Assembly & Test (Shanghai) Co Ltd had no place to store detergents, which are crucial for production, the management bureau and Waigaoqiao Group coordinated with United Railways Logistics Co Ltd, a storage and logistics company in the area, to help solve the problem.

Other companies also received help from the local authorities in the bonded area in resuming operations.

Last year, the Waigaoqiao Bonded Area was honored with the Large Tenant Award – Asia-Pacific, as well as three other awards, for their efforts in trade facilitation, expansion, and efforts to improve transparency, after being evaluated by FDI, a magazine affiliated with the Financial Times. More than 1,200 free trade zones across the globe were evaluated by the magazine.