Foxconn reopens production lines in Zhengzhou

Apple supplier Foxconn has resumed operations at its factory in Zhengzhou in Henan province over the past four days but not all of its 1,050 staff have returned to work at the two production lines, mainland media reports.

This news comes as media reports indicate that Apple is likely to miss the schedule of mass producing a budget iPhone model.

Meanwhile, a federal judge in Texas yesterday rejected Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies' constitutional challenge to a US law that restricted its ability to do business with federal agencies and their contractors. In a 57-page decision, US District Judge Amos Mazzant ruled in favor of the United States, concluding that Congress acted within its powers by including the restriction in the National Defense Authorization Act, which also targeted China's ZTE.

In other news, President Donald Trump has intervened to stop his administration's developing plans to block sales of General Electric-made jet engines to China and other proposed restrictions on American exports, declaring national security is being used too often by his officials to limit American companies' ability to transact with China.

"We don't want to make it impossible to do business with us," Trump said in a tweet . "That will only mean orders will go to someplace else."