While translating Covid-19 in China during its peak in February, Guan Xunze’s company decided to set up a new mask factory in just 11 days.

The factory has five production lines located in northwestern China specializing in the production of N95 masks, products with great demand in the context of soaring Covid-19 cases.

As China has shown signs of controlling the internal spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus in the country, Guan, a businessman in the pharmaceutical industry, is "taking money" from new markets with a mask. His company is exporting the item to Italy, where the number of deaths has surpassed China - where the outbreak began last year.

According to the business data platform Tianyancha, in the first two months of this year, China had about 8,950 new mask manufacturers and they were racing against time to compensate for the huge shortage of this item. Global.

Up to now, the number of people infected with the virus in the world has exceeded 500,000 and the demand for protective equipment soared, in the context of all countries are dealing with pandemics.

“The mask making machine is really a money printer. The profit from a mask is now a few cents compared to less than 1 cent previously. Producing 60,000-70,000 masks a day is equivalent to printing money, ”said Shi Xinghui, sales manager of an N95 mask manufacturing company in Dongguan City, Guangdong.

Mr. Qi Guangtu invested about 50 million yuan (US $ 7 million) at the beginning of the year in a mask factory in an industrial park in Dongguan.

The factory has been producing 24 hours a day since January 25, two days after Wuhan and Hubei declared a blockade to prevent the spread of the disease.

"Paying back capital (buying machines) is definitely not a problem," Qi said. He currently has 200 orders, totaling 100 million yuan.

"It only takes 15 days to earn money to buy the machines," Mr. Qi said.

Sleep at the factory waiting for a mask production line

Producer You Lixin has never been in a mask factory before. However, when the market heated up, he took the opportunity and invested in the production of machinery and equipment used to produce masks.

"I only sleep 2-3 hours a day, my clients do too," Mr. You said.

The entrepreneur’s partner even sleeps at the factory, waiting every day to buy the machines to start the process of making masks.

Some of them are textile factories in Wenzhou, Zhejiang. They turned to masks when the market demand soared.

"They have orders but not enough production capacity. Panic increases when the disease outbreaks," Mr. You said.

The increase in respirator production lines has led to an increase in material prices.

According to Mr. Guan, the price of cloth has risen from 10,000 yuan to 480,000 yuan / ton during peak periods.

However, no matter how much the production cost increases, the profitability of the mask industry is still very attractive to investors.

According to official data, one day China can produce 116 million masks, and most serve the needs of foreign customers.

Mr. Guan sold 1 million masks to Italy while Mr. Shi was receiving 200 orders from South Korea and European countries. Mr. Liao is researching export markets to Europe and Canada.

Guan is optimistic about the future of the post-pandemic masking industry.

"Most people will have a habit of wearing masks after this epidemic," he said.