Medical supplies

The production of medical supplies is of paramount significance in Shanxi to respond to the nationwide emergency.

Since late January, local manufacturers have resumed production of such products as medicines, face masks and protective clothing.

Xinhua Chemicals is the first local medical supplies company to resume production in the province.

As a result of its 500-plus employees working on normal and additional shifts, Xinhua Chemicals can now produce 5,000 medical masks daily, according to the company.

Another major medical supplies producer is Jihua 3534 Garments based in Wenxi county, Shanxi province.

"With more than 500 workers working on three shifts and 10 production lines operating at full capacity, we can currently produce more than 10,000 disposable protective garments every day," said Wang Qingcai, executive board chairman of the company.

There is also cross-industry collaboration for the production of medical supplies.

For instance, Bingjuan Garments based in Linyi county is using the germ-free workshop of local Aoer Pharmaceuticals to produce medical protective clothing. It took only 48 hours to start production after equipment was installed and raw materials bought.

Stabilizing supplies of daily necessities to ensure that residents' livelihoods are not disrupted by the epidemic is also an important part of the current economic operations.

As many residential communities are locked down to prevent the spread of the virus, a number of retailers are offering delivery services to residents.

To avoid crowding in areas like supermarkets, Taiyuan-based agricultural products chain Hongxin called on outlets to deliver vegetables, food and other daily necessities to the gates of neighboring communities.

"We have delivered more than 1,000 tons of food to communities in Taiyuan at reasonable prices during this Spring Festival. This is a twofold increase compared with the same period of last year," said Zhao Xuefeng, president of Hongxin.

Guo Yanjie contributed to this story.