All 310 German companies in Taicang, a county-level city in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, have resumed operations amid the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak, local media reported on Feb 14.

Kern-Liebers, the first German company to set up headquarters in Taicang, is making efforts to minimize the possibility of cross-infection.

"All 180 of our employees who stayed in Taicang during the Spring Festival have returned to work. We have kept up on their whereabouts and taken strict prevention measures, including disinfecting public areas, ventilating the work space, and replacing face-to-face meetings with video chats." Said Zhang Zhenwei, general manager of Kern-Liebers (Taicang).

The other employees, including returnees from other Jiangsu cities and other provinces, must report their health status and undergo 14 days of observation before reuniting with their colleagues, according to Zhang.

Schaeffler Group, the biggest German manufacturer in Suzhou, is encouraging employees to work from home and attend online conferences.

The German company is in close contact with global suppliers in order to guarantee the timely delivery of medical supplies. The company has prepared disinfected shuttle buses and a monitoring mechanism to ensure the health and safety of all their employees.

At the Taicang headquarters of Trumpf Group, one of the world's largest providers of machine tools, a large canteen which used to seat over 500 diners now receives less than 100 employees.

The move was made to maintain a safe distance between tables and minimize the risk of cross-infection, according to Zhen Wen, executive manager of Trumpf Group (Taicang). She said nearly all of the company's production lines have resumed operation, thanks to the guidance and policy support from the municipal government.

The county-level city of Taicang boasts a 30-year history of Sino-German cooperation and has been made a national model. It was acknowledged by the Ministry of Commerce and the national economic department of Germany as the only cooperation base for Chinese and German enterprises.

The city has attracted 310 German companies, which have invested a total of $4.5 billion and produced more than 50 billion yuan ($7.5 billion) in industrial output annually, official figures show. As of Feb 13, all of them have resumed operations.