By Brenda Goh and Norihiko Shirouzu

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – General Motors and Volkswagen Group China said on Monday their businesses in Shanghai were unaffected by the city’s lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Both companies operate factories in the city through joint ventures with Chinese state-owned automaker SAIC Motor Corp.

A GM spokesman told Reuters that its manufacturing facilities were operating normally.

The lockdown announced on Sunday roughly divides China’s most populous city along the Huangpu River for nine days to allow for “staggered” coronavirus testing.

GM’s Shanghai factories are east of the river in areas closed Monday through Friday for authorities to conduct mass testing.

The company did not immediately comment on the measures it had taken to keep production lines running, but Shanghai said factories that introduce “closed-loop” systems can continue production.

Tesla, which also has a factory on the east side of the river, has suspended production for four days after being unable to fit such a system, sources told Reuters on Monday.

Volkswagen Group China said its operations in Anting, Shanghai were unaffected by the lockdown, adding that it was monitoring the situation day by day.

Anting is in western Shanghai, where the lockdown is set to begin on April 1st.

However, Volkswagen operations in the northeastern city of Changchun remain suspended. Production there has been suspended since March 14 due to a COVID-19 lockdown.

(Reporting by Brenda Goh and Norihiko Shirouzu; Editing by Edmund Blair and David Goodman)

Copyright 2022 Thomson Reuters.