--- title: "Chinese Workers Jump Fence After Being Locked Inside World’s Largest iPhone Factory" description: "Videos show what appear to be workers at Foxconn's plant in China jumping a fence to reportedly escape the country's strict zero-COVID policies." date: "2022-10-31" modified: "2022-10-31" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/chinese-workers-apple-factory" categories: - "Developments" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "china" - "covid19" - "foxconn" --- # Chinese Workers Jump Fence After Being Locked Inside World’s Largest iPhone Factory ![Videos show what appear to be workers at Foxconn's plant in China jumping a fence to reportedly escape the country's strict zero-COVID policies.]() *\Image: Stephen McDonell via Twitter\* Videos circulating on social media show what appear to be workers at Foxconn's iPhone manufacturing plant in China jumping a fence, reportedly to escape a lockdown stemming from the country's strict zero-COVID policies. As the [*BBC* reports](), the footage allegedly shows roughly a dozen workers getting away after Chinese officials started tightening the rules at the world's largest iPhone factory, forcing them to eat in their dorms and subjecting them to daily testing and quarantines. That's despite Foxconn [telling *Reuters*]() over the weekend that workers were allowed to leave if they wished. As coronavirus cases are again [on the rise]() in the country, the spotlight has yet again fallen on China's controversial zero-COVID policy, a rigid set of guidelines that have led to drawn out and often inescapable lockdowns for millions of people there. https://twitter.com/StephenMcDonell/status/1586633671150211072 Over the weekend, a [video of a Chinese business man]() justifying these policies [went viral](). The consultant argued that in ten years, the West will fall behind as most of the workers will be suffering from long-COVID, while China comes out on top. But some workers in the country have seemingly had enough. "It was total chaos in the dormitories," a Foxconn worker identified as Xia [told *The Financial Times*](). "We jumped a plastic fence and a metal fence to get out of the campus." "I will never go back to Foxconn," another worker named Xu told the newspaper. "They don’t have humanity there." On October 19, Foxconn banned all dine-in catering, but later reversed the decision over the weekend, according to the *BBC*. "The government agreed to resume dine-in meals to improve the convenience and satisfaction of employees' lives," Foxconn said in a Sunday statement. According to the *FT*, the area surrounding the plant had been fully locked down, with roads completely blocked off, an attempt to contain an outbreak. As [*Reuters* reports](), cases of COVID-19 have been on the rise in Zhengzhou, which is home to Foxconn's plant, leading officials to enforce a partial lockdown. Now, cities are getting ready for an influx of workers escaping the factory. Foxconn employs around 200,000 workers at its Zhenzhou facilities alone. **READ MORE:** [Apple: Chinese workers flee Covid lockdown at iPhone factory]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()