SOEs double workload to make items for coronavirus battle

Centrally-administered State-owned enterprises from the manufacturing, chemical, petrochemical and grain processing sectors have doubled or even tripled their workload to produce goods and materials to combat the novel coronavirus across China, said the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

Confronted with the medical goods shortage in Central China's Hubei provinces and other locations, central SOEs such as China North Industries Group Corp, China National Machinery Industry Corp and Xinxing Cathay International Group Co have required their factories to raise the production volume of facial marks, protective clothing and industrial materials, in a bid to support frontline medical staff to better deal with the epidemic, according to information released by the SASAC.

The daily production capacity of disinfection alcohol has been raised from 700 metric tons per day to 1,000 tons per day by COFCO Biotechnology Co, a subsidiary of COFCO Group, China's foodstuff and grain trader.

The company said its production volume can be further increased if needed in the future. It has supplied more than 1,600 tons of disinfection alcohol to hospitals in Beijing, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan and other places, including 450,000 bottles of medical alcohol in small packages.

The SASAC said based on seven central SOEs' current operational condition, including China National Chemical Corp and Sinopec Group, their combining production capacity of disinfection alcohol and disinfectant can reach over 1,000 tons and 5,000 bottles, respectively, per day, as well as clothing factories that can produce 10,000 pieces of protective clothing on a daily basis.