SHENZHEN, China ¨C David Fong made his way from a poor village in central China to the southern boomtown of Shenzhen as a young man in 1997. Over the next 25 years he worked for a succession of overseas manufacturers before building his own multi-million dollar business making everything from schoolbags to toothbrushes.
Now 47, he has plans to branch out internationally by building internet-connected consumer devices. But after two years of coronavirus lockdowns that have pushed up the price of shipping and battered consumers¡¯ confidence, he worries if his business will survive at all.
¡°I hope we make it through the year,¡± said Fong, surrounded by talking bears, machine parts and his company¡¯s catalogues in his top-floor office overlooking gleaming towers in an area of Shenzhen once filled with sprawling factories. ¡°It¡¯s a tough moment for a business.¡±
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