BEIJING: Businesswoman Connie Su has been busy on multiple fronts, recruiting workers, upgrading machinery and handling orders for her mask factory. Her company, Guangdong Brilliant Medical Technology Co., Ltd., was founded in May in Dongguan, in south China’s Guangdong Province, focusing on developing and manufacturing high-quality face masks. Su also owns two cosmetic companies. “After the resumption of work in Guangdong in March, we foresaw that the demand for masks would take off in the future, and we immediately decided to shelve the business of cosmetic imports affected by the epidemic and focus on making masks,” said Su, general manager of the company, which has two 500-sq-meter dust-free workshops and more than 20 workers. “Our face masks have been exported to Europe and Southeast Asia, although the volume is not so big,” she said.
The company has invested more than 10 million yuan (about 1.53 million U.S. dollars) in research and development and construction of the factory, according to Su. She plans to recruit dozens more workers. While targeting exports, the company is also considering domestic sales through e-commerce. “The lack of original design and brand-building capability is a weak link in our mask and protective-equipment industry. We aim to create a brand that represents ‘Made in China,’” Su said. To meet the soaring demand for protective supplies due to COVID-19, thousands of companies across China have joined the production force for protective equipment and materials, many of them switching from their existing manufacturing output to this new line of business. The country’s exports of anti-epidemic materials saw robust growth in the first three quarters. According to Hou Jian, sales manager with Strong H Mechanical Technology (Laizhou) Co., Ltd. in east China’s Shandong Province, although the company’s main output, sewing-machine accessories, was back to normal in September, equipment for mask production has become the company’s long-term business, as the epidemic situation overseas has not been controlled. – PNP
