(Yicai Global) Feb. 26 -- Yanfeng Adient Seating, a China-US automotive seating joint venture, expects to resume full production by the middle of next month despite operating setbacks caused by the novel coronavirus epidemic, the company told Yicai Global.

The firm's factories, which restarted on Feb. 10 after the extended Chinese New Year holiday, are operating at 50 percent capacity. That is expected to reach 75 percent by next week and they should all be operating as normal by the middle of March, Executive Vice President Zang Chungao said.

Some 86 percent of management and technical teams in Adient's Shanghai head office are back at work along with 84 percent of assembly line workers. At the moment, just 45 percent of staff need to work in the office, Zang said. The others can work remotely or on different shifts.

That is enough to ensure sufficient production and to meet customers' demand, Zang added. Adient will continue to adjust its production schedule according to orders, he added.

However, there are still a number of employees who have been affected by the epidemic. Ten percent of office staff and 1 percent of factory workers have been quarantined. The remainder have yet to return to Shanghai.

The company, which has more than 30 percent of China's auto seating market, is also helping its supply chain partners recover output by providing them with epidemic prevention materials and advice on managing staff health.

Around 70 percent of industrial and commercial firms funded by overseas capital in the city have started operating again after the prolonged break, the Shanghai government said on Feb. 21. Some 93 percent of the 217 multinational firms that have regional head offices in the city have reopened for business.

Yanfeng Adient Seating was formed by Shanghai automaker SAIC Motor's Yanfeng Automotive Trim Systems and Michigan-based Adient in 1997. Last year it had a turnover of CNY28.5 billion (USD4 billion).

Editor: Kim Taylor