Dozens of workers were made to stay at a Shanghai robotics plant and sleep on cardboard amid the city's Covid lockdown

The Chinese state-run paper Shanghai Observer reported on Monday that a robotics factory asked its workers to stay at their factory in the city so that it could meet tight delivery deadlines.

The paper showed images of the conference room and recreation room at the plant where the workers slept on cardboard.

After the municipal authorities said on March 27 that they would lock down the city of 26 million, executives decided to move workers in, according to the paper.

As of Wednesday, the market value of the company was about $2 billion, making it one of China's largest robot makers.

The supply chain issues down the line were prevented by the manufacturing that was kept during the lockdown. Lu told the paper that the most pressing delivery would be for a client in Mexico.

China continues to pursue a zero-COVID policy marked by strict and sudden lockdowns as it seeks to stamp out the virus altogether.

After an outbreak of the omicron variant, the city put its 26 million residents into a phased lock down on March 28.

Several businesses in China have gotten around the restrictions by having workers live at their place of business. Insider reported last week that thousands of bankers and traders have been living in their offices to make sure business goes on as usual.