China enhances ventilator production

BEIJING: Chinese enterprises have bolstered capacity in producing ventilators to overcome the imperative shortage amid efforts to fight against the COVID-19, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said Monday.

Pushing the work resumption of medical equipment enterprises is a top priority to ensure sufficient supply amid the epidemic, Xu Kemin, an official with the MIIT, said at a press conference.As of Sunday, major producers across the country had offered 27,000 ventilators, with some 3,000 of them being invasive ventilators, meeting the country’s anti-virus need.

While securing the indigenous demand, the country has provided around 1,700 invasive ventilators to other countries since March 19.China has received orders for about 20,000 ventilators from other countries, Xu noted, adding that 21 invasive ventilator manufacturers have swung into full gear to meet the surging demand in the foreign market.