Ying Xujie (right), deputy general manager of Zhejiang Int'l Group, inspects medical supplies reserves at a factory. [Photo/zj.zjol.com]

Editor's note: Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in January, Zhejiang province has been making vigorous efforts to fight it. This special series will take a close look at the measures the province has taken during the epidemic.

Companies in Zhejiang province have been working hard to ensure adequate quantities of medical and life supplies for people to fight the COVID-19 epidemic.

Companies have called back employees by promising more pay and have mobilized managers to help with production. A fire-fighting equipment manufacturer in Jiangshan, a county-level city in Quzhou, even established a makeshift plant in three days to produce face masks.

Twenty-five face mask factories were established within a month in Wenzhou, increasing the city's daily mask output by nearly 20 times. 

Zhejiang Int'l Group is a leading medical supplies distribution company in the province. By Feb 26, it had distributed medical supplies worth nearly 160 million yuan ($22.86 million), including 25 million face masks and protective suits.

In terms of life supplies, major vegetable markets and supermarkets in the province have kept up normal operations, and e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba and JD have ensured that goods can be ordered online and distributed to customers.

Yan Peilin is a manager of a Wu Mart chain store in Hangzhou. He has been doing manual work with others in the supermarket for over a month, despite pain from a leg injury.