Government lockdowns to tamp down rising numbers of Covid cases tied to the highly contagious Omicron variant are having an impact on manufacturing and the port in the key city of Shenzhen, and in other cities across the country, according to the The Wall Street Journal.  Although some factories in the city were allowed to reopen Friday, restrictions on warehouses, trucking, and other bottlenecks have led to a backup of ships waiting to dock at the port, according to the report.  The reopening of some factories before cases were eliminated represents a change in policy by the Chinese government, which is now including economic impact as one of the variables it considers when deciding on pandemic mitigation measures.

The Port of Shenzhen handles about a quarter of all Chinese exports to the U.S.