E-Land affected by China's COVID-19 lockdown

E-Land's Scofield clothing store in Shanghai / Korea Times file

By Kim Jae-heun

Concerns are growing over E-Land's business in China as more stores run by the fashion company are being forced to shut down by Chinese authorities amid the rapid spread of COVID-19 infections there, according to industry officials, Wednesday.

On April 26, the Chinese government revealed that Shanghai had seen 16,980 daily new infections and 52 more deaths.

COVID-19 has since gone on to spread in Beijing where 29 people were confirmed as infected as of April 25. This has led China to shut down Beijing's Chaoyang District.

E-Land operates some 10 stores in Chaoyang and they are temporarily closed under the current regulation.

Chaoyang is home to 3.5 million people, which is only 16 percent of Beijing's 22 million population. However, it has the largest population among the 16 districts of the capital city.

E-Land said it does not operate a big number of stores in Chaoyang, so the shutdown of the district won't affect the fashion company's business too harshly.

“We don't have big problems with the shutdown in Chaoyang as we operate only 10 stores in the district. Also, our production facility is in Vietnam, so we can continue to manufacture our products and deliver them to China,” an E-Land official said.

However, if the Chinese government decides to regulate more districts in Beijing, the situation could turn worse for E-Land.

After the Chinese government shut down Shanghai on March 28, 230 E-Land clothing stores have been unable to open for a month.

The Chinese government originally said it would lift the ban in Shanghai by April 4. However, as the pandemic situation worsened in the city, the government decided to extend the restriction indefinitely.

“As the shutdown period continues in Shanghai and Beijing, local fashion firms will have to suffer more. There is nothing they can do about the Chinese government's decision,” a local fashion firm official said.