Meliá, among the Spanish companies that resume activity in China

Meliá Hotels International is among the Spanish companies in various sectors that have begun to resume their activity in China gradually and with precautions. Along with the hotel company are Siemens, Fluidra and especially from the textile sector, Inditex, Mango or Adolfo Domínguez among them.

It should be remembered that according to HOSTELTUR published on the Stock Exchange it registers the highest rise in ten years due to the forthcoming opening of Wuhan, last Tuesday the Spanish Stock Exchange, like all its international counterparts, were encouraged by the news of the first signs of return to normality in China, being Meliá one of the most outstanding companies, with a rise in the price of 25.97%. Spanish companies with a presence in China gradually return to normal after the Chinese government "relaxed" the measures taken during the quarantine. Last Wednesday, the Asian country lifted the travel restrictions that it had imposed on its cities, except for the capital of the Chinese province of Hubei, Wuhan, the focus of the coronavirus pandemic, which will no longer be quarantined on April 8. Meliá, which has six hotels in China, has already reopened four and is waiting to reopen two more, the Meliá Shanghai Hongqiao and the Meliá Shanghai Parkside, which will remain closed until the reopening of the city's Disney Park, which gives service. Regarding the workers of the hotel chain in China, after two months of teleworking, they are progressively returning to the office "in shifts and with precautions" (they take their temperature and wear a mask).

Inditex, which has 577 stores in China, has announced the reopening of "all stores" in the Asian country except 11 stores, for which no location has been specified. The textile group announced on its website that, as of March 17, 3,785 stores in 39 markets were temporarily closed following the recommendations of the health authorities. However, from Inditex they have indicated in a statement that "online sales develop normally in all markets." The swimming pool company Fluidra, with an office in Shanghai and its own factories in Ningbo, has pointed out that the commercial teams and offices are returning to normal "gradually". There are still teams that continue to telework, but the factories already operate "on a regular basis". "The situation begins to normalize and everything is expected to return to its course when schools open again, predictably between mid-April and early May," they have pointed out from the swimming pool company. Mango, one of the first to announce the closure of its twenty stores in China, has indicated that they are already open to the public, "fully operational", and that sales "are gradually recovering." For its part, the firm Adolfo Domínguez, with eight stores in China, has stated that they are all operational again. Oil company Cepsa, which has a phenol production plant in Shanghai, has been able to keep it "at full capacity throughout the crisis" and does not expect "problems in the rest of the year." The two representative offices of Banco Sabadell, with 6 employees in Beijing and Shanghai, to whom he had recommended to telework, have already returned to normal. Likewise, at Banco Santander, which has around 250 employees, mainly in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, they are gradually returning to normal, although there are still employees who telecommute. The bank insists that they are "continually assessing the situation" and are complying, "at a minimum", with the policy imposed by the Chinese government. Bankia has confirmed that its Shanghai office has reopened and the director works normally, as do the employees, a few days from the office and others from home, "depending on needs." Also among the Spanish companies present in the Asian giant that have resumed their activity are Repsol, the manufacturer of automobile components Gestamp, that of Siemens Gamesa wind turbines and that of Antolin vehicle components.

"Hosteltour" by Angeles Vargas

https://www.hosteltur.com/135656_melia-entre-las-empresas-espanolas-que-reanudan-la-actividad-en-china.html