No country in the world escaped the impact of Covid during the past three years, but our experience in China has been unique. It’s included lockdowns, daily PCR tests, strict regulations, and multiple challenges. For an international moving company, it has been a real test.

“I’ve been working in the industry for 30 years,” says Zhang Qing. “I’d never experienced anything like this. It was challenging in every way. At home, because my father is his nineties, and even more so at work. But everyone was in it together; we dug deep, and we got through it.”

Strict regulations rolled out by China in 2020 drastically reduced the number of international flights and placed major restrictions on people’s movements. For three years, foreigners in China could not find flights to return home. Company execs and diplomatic staff who were supposed to take up posts in China were reluctant to come.

Business stalled. Impatience grew. In 2022, as China’s lockdowns ramped up, thousands of foreigners voted with their feet, choosing to leave China. Our website was jammed with inquiries, and that year we broke our own record for goods moved overseas.

One of the people who left China in 2022 was Nicole Furutani, who worked for an international school in Beijing. “The lockdown was the last straw for us. My husband and I both love China but this was too much. We were worried that if we got Covid and were bundled off to a quarantine center our cat might die alone at home. So, we contacted CIM and started the wheels rolling to return to Canada.”

In that crazy period from the beginning of 2020 to the end of 2022, CIM Beijing faced difficulties that we had never faced before. Sometimes, our teams would arrive at a community in Beijing or Shanghai only to discover that the gates were closed and they were not allowed to enter the site. During the 2022 Beijing winter, our workers several times packed goods for customers outdoors—in temperatures a few degrees below zero!

Some communities insisted that our personnel wear protective clothing, and show up armed with 24-hour nucleic acid reports. Sometimes our workers had to undergo antigen tests on the spot.

Like all citizens, our staff were being tracked by big data. If you had been in a market, for example, at the same time as someone who later tested positive, your health code would change to red and you would have to quarantine at home—for ten days. There was no day without some kind of disruption.

At one point, we were not allowed to enter our office building. Everyone had to work from home. Fortunately, China’s internet infrastructure is excellent and we were all able to link to the company’s server from home and use moveware. Many employees ended up working from home for several months.

Then, in December 2022, Covid restrictions were suddenly lifted. A wave of Covid infections raced through China. In our office in Beijing, one after another, staff came down with Covid, leading to weeks of postponements and cancellations. Luckily, customers were understanding because, at that time, more than 80% of people in Beijing were infected.

Those three years of strict Covid controls led to a significant increase in our operating costs, in part because we refused to reduce workers’ salaries. But now, business is shooting up again. Because of the increase in workload, we have now moved to a new 1,600 sq. meter warehouse.

In 2022, we obtained the right to make customs declarations ourselves. This boosts efficiency and reduces cost, because we no longer need a third party to do this for us. We have recruited a customs broker, Connie Kang, and she is getting a better understanding of the industry every day.

Looking back on these three years, the experience has brought us closer together.

Harriet remembers the day the office building was sealed off. “At first, colleagues were very anxious when they heard we couldn't go home. Then we decided to order pizza. We lit some candles, and had a candlelit dinner together. And it ended perfectly: The lockdown was lifted at 9pm, and we were all able to go home and have a rest.”

Adds accountant Tracy: “We take care of each other. We often cook ‘anti-epidemic’ soup in the office—sometimes stewed licorice and dried ginger soup, sometimes stewed ‘pueraria mirifica soup’.”

Says Paul: “The company looks after us. Everybody received anti-epidemic sachets, cold medicines, and masks.”

Says packer Hong Song: “I enjoyed making dumplings and pizza in the office and having a New Year's meal together. Covid wasn’t all bad!”

Manager Harriet said that another response by the company to the unprecedented situation was to organize more outdoor teambuilding activities. “We’ve been to the Forbidden City, to the Summer Palace, Lama Temple, Beihai Park and the Temple of Heaven.”

CIM Beijing takes its corporate social responsibilities seriously. We sponsor charity activities—for example, tents and castles made from CIM cartons to support the Migrate Children’s Foundation charity sales; the Pakistan floods charity sale; and the telethon to raise funds for kids in France who have muscular dystrophy. 

We even helped pack 18 aircraft with medical supplies during the pandemic period.

Remarkably, despite the seesaw nature of the last three years, our operating income has increased by more than 20% each year.

Says Harriet, “I need to thank all my colleagues. The pandemic was a tough time for everyone, but wherever it was possible our teams went out and packed goods so that people could move and get on with their lives. We know our customers are dealing with all kinds of stress and pressure. Our job is to help them move to their new destination.”

“It is thanks to the hard work of all our colleagues that we have not only managed to survive three years of epidemic control, but succeeded in creating a bigger, brighter, more dynamic CIM.”