Xian, with a population of 13 million, will be locked down for a week after a handful of Covid cases were registered in the city, Chinese authorities announced on Tuesday.
In the city, Samsung has a large factory for manufacturing microchips.
The local authorities suspects that a new spread of the omicron variant is starting to take hold and therefore extensive measures are being taken to limit the spread.
Pubs and cafes will close from midnight on Wednesday. Restaurants will not be allowed to serve guests indoors, but will be allowed to open for take-away. For schools in the city, the summer holidays will be brought forward and universities will be forced to close their campuses.
China continues to adhere to its zero-tolerance policy against the coronavirus, enforced through strict restrictions and mass testing when COVID cases are detected in the country.
In Xian there are several large factories for microchips, a commodity that has long been in short supply. Samsung, among others, has a factory in the city. How production will turn out this time is unclear.
