TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — During a tour of the southern province of Guizhou, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) remarked how many factories were standing idle, revealing the scale of the impact of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, reports said Monday (July 6).

In the city of Tongren, Li first had a look at local industry, noting how a lot of capacity was not being used, the Liberty Times reported. He encouraged local businesses and the local government to turn to farmers and workers to recruit them and provide them with jobs.

Li’s tour also included an electronics firm based in Shenzhen which had opened a factory in Tongren, creating 2,000 jobs, including 1,592 for locals returning home, according to Chinese media. The latter had been recruited as work resumed following the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The prime minister praised the company’s endeavors, saying it had achieved a “double win” by lowering its own cost of doing business and by allowing local residents to earn a living, the Liberty Times reported.