Joe McDonald

AP Business Writer

In this Feb. 13, 2020, photo released by Xinhua News Agency, workers wearing masks labor at a factory for Chinese telecommunications company OPPO in Dongguan, in southern China's Guangdong Province.

Chinese Factories Face New Threat

It's U.S. anti-virus controls.

People wearing protective face masks walk by a quiet Silk Street Mall, a usually popular tourist spot before the new coronavirus outbreak in Beijing, Wednesday, March 11, 2020.

Companies Reopen in China Virus's Center

The province began allowing factories and some other businesses to reopen.

In this Monday, March 2, 2020, photo, a worker wearing a mask works at a factory producing bicycle wheel rims in Hangzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang province. Factories in China that make the world's smartphones, toys and other consumer goods are trying to protect their employees from a virus outbreak as they resume production. Manufacturers are buying masks by the thousands and jugs of disinfectant. The ruling Communist Party has told local officials to help reopen factories that were idled by the most intensive anti-disease controls ever imposed.

China's Factories Try to Shield Workers

One company hired a cook and set up dorms.

A man wearing a protective face mask walks by shuttered business shops in Beijing, Sunday, March 1, 2020. Amid fears about where the next outbreak of a fast-spreading new virus would appear, infections and deaths continued to rise across the globe Sunday, emptying streets of tourists and workers, shaking economies and rewriting the realities of daily life.

China Slumps as Anti-Virus Controls Bite

Companies are confident activity will revive following government stimulus efforts.

A worker in overalls screen for fever at the entrance to a supermarket in Beijing Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020.

Chinese Industry Recovering, More Aid Coming

At a news conference, officials expressed confidence China's 18 million small and medium-size enterprises are recovering quickly.

In this Feb. 17, 2020, file photo released by Xinhua News Agency, workers assemble Audi A6 L cars at a workshop of FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co., Ltd. in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province.Factories that make the world's smartphones, toys and other goods are struggling to reopen after a virus outbreak idled China's economy. But even with the ruling Communist Party promising help, companies and economists say it may be months before production is back to normal.

China Struggles to Revive Manufacturing

The virus outbreak has idled China’s economy.

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Automakers Gradually Reopen

The plants were idled by anti-virus controls.

In this Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020, photo, workers watch a container ship arrive at a port in Qingdao in east China's Shandong province.

China Cuts Tariffs on $75B of US Imports

The cuts follow last month's signing of a “Phase 1” agreement.

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Chinese Scientists Ask for Patent on US Drug

The country has the right under WTO rules to declare an emergency and compel a company to license a patent to protect the public.

In this Feb. 4, 2020, photo, a foreman wears a face mask as he communicates via radio at a container port in Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong Province. Deaths from a new virus rose to 490 in mainland China on Wednesday while new cases on a Japanese cruise ship, in Hong Kong and in other places showed the increasing spread of the outbreak and renewed attention toward containing it.

Automakers Address China Operations

A look at the latest developments.

Dummies are displayed in a fashion shop at the Montenapoleone shopping district, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020.

Virus Outbreak Weighs on Global Business

Global business is catching a chill from China's virus outbreak.

In this Jan. 3, 2020, photo, workers make sneakers in a factory in Jinjiang city in southeastern China's Fujian province. China’s economic growth sank to a new multi-decade low of 6.1% in 2019 as consumer demand weakened and Beijing fought a trade war with Washington. Government data Friday, Jan. 17, showed growth was down from 2018’s 6.6%, already the lowest since 1990. Economic growth in the three months ending in December held steady at the previous quarter’s level of 6%.

China's 2019 Economic Growth Weakens

A U.S.-Chinese trade truce might help to revive consumer and business activity.