German firm promotes SZ prevention practice

(From L) Zheng Yunhong (Imex Dental Asia general manager), Uwe Erwin Landsberger (Imex Dental Asia legal representative), Dietmar Fischer (Imex Dental Group HR manager) and Jan-Dirk Oberbeckmann (Imex Dental Group CEO) pose for a photo in their headquarters in Germany in 2018. Courtesy of the interviewees

Zheng Yunhong, general manager of the German company Imex Dental Asia Co. Ltd. in Bao’an District, told Shenzhen Daily on Wednesday that they have actively promoted the preventive measures taken by Shenzhen to their headquarters in Germany since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, and have produced positive results.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic in China, the company has maintained timely and effective communication with their headquarters in Germany, including information on the preventative measures taken by the city government.

According to Zheng, at the beginning, all the masks used by their employees were provided by the headquarters in Germany. “When it was hard to buy masks, we even gave out masks to the families of our employees.”

However, due to differences in national conditions, culture and region, rumors and misunderstanding about China sprung up every day. There was also prejudice and distrust of China in the German media during this difficult period.

“We were refuting rumors every day, explaining the proactive and effective measures the government was implementing here and relieving their doubts about some data in China. This prompt communication effectively dispelled the misunderstanding and distrust,” said Zheng.

“When the pandemic hit Germany, at the early stage people there still advocated that it was of no use to wear a mask. However, the company’s head office took into consideration our suggestion and asked all employees to wear masks to work. So far, no employee at our headquarters has been infected by COVID-19,” said Zheng.

Zheng gave a big thumbs-up to the measures taken by the Chinese Government.

“All the measures taken by the government are very decisive and effective. If we look back now and compare the situation overseas, these measures are very timely and correct. The government has also introduced many policies and measures to help enterprises work through this difficult period such as reduction in electricity fees and social security,” Zheng told Shenzhen Daily.

Jan-Dirk Oberbeckmann, CEO of Imex Dental Group, wrote a letter of thanks to the director of the office of Shiyan Subdistrict to express the company’s gratitude to the government for the support and guidance on restarting the business. At the same time, they donated 10,000 masks to the subdistrict office.

“Our company specializes in the production of customized dentures and we need to deliver the goods in five days from receiving the order. The subdistrict office learned about the special situation of our production, helped us learn the policies on epidemic control and prevention, and guided us to put into practice all the preventive measures. So our production can carry on normally,” said Zheng.

The company has resumed work since February, which is when, apart from three employees in Hubei, all the other employees returned to work. Since the lockdown in Hubei was lifted, all 81 employees of the company have returned.

The gravity of the pandemic overseas has led to a decline in demand. As a result, their home office has seen a 50-percent reduction in orders. “So we have implemented a production rotation plan for the moment and expect to return to normal production in May,” said Zheng.

Recently, Germany was among the first countries in Europe to obligate people to wear masks in public places. “So far, the strict control and prevention measures taken in Germany have also produced good results. We feel proud and happy as Chinese employees for a German company,” said Zheng.

“We think that this experience of the virus crisis will make the employees and management, as well as the company, stronger than ever. We grew more together. And we will be prepared for further challenges,” said Oberbeckmann on Thursday.