(Yicai Global) April 27 -- Shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation rose after China’s largest wafer maker said it has not closed any plants in the country this year.

SMIC [SHA: 688981] closed 2.1 percent higher in Shanghai today at CNY38.57 (USD5.88). Its Hong Kong-listed stock [HKG: 0981] ended up 2.6 percent at HKD15.30 (USD1.95).

The recent Covid-19 outbreak did have a short-term impact on some of SMIC’s plants in Shanghai in the middle of this month, but they have already returned to normal production, the Shanghai-based company said today.

SMIC introduced the so-called closed-loop system, a factory bubble in which staff work, eat, and sleep cut off from the outside world to prevent the spread of Covid-19, at its plant in Zhangjiang and two industrial parks in Shanghai on March 18 to ensure stable operations during Covid restrictions, China Securities Journal reported late yesterday.

The chipmaker began to make arrangements for its employees to return to normal work after Shanghai issued guidelines for companies to resume production on April 16. The capacity utilization rate at the two parks remains high.

Shanghai is the cradle of China’s semiconductor industry, with 800 chipmakers and nearly 40 percent of its workers. Revenue from the city’s integrated circuit sector was CNY257.9 billion (USD39.4 billion) last year, accounting for over a quarter of the country’s total.

According to the Shanghai Integrated Circuit Industry Association, only 60 semiconductor makers are on the list of companies allowed to resume operations in the city.

“Production of key companies such as SMIC can be guaranteed as they have government support and adopted closed-loop management, while some small factories are still facing challenges to fully resume production,” consulting service provider Eetrend’s Chief Executive Richard Zhang said, according to an IT Times report yesterday.

Editor: Futura Costaglione