The "grey hair commando" team at the workshop. [Photo by Liu Yuanyuan and Wu Tianqi/For chinadaily.com.cn]

Chen Huaze, 59, a member of the team and vice-general manager of Teda Filters Co Ltd, said: "I have only two months before I retire. Our staff members and some retired engineers made up the team, and we hope to address the challenges of facial mask filter material supplies."

The workshop, in Tianjin's Beichen Economic and Technological Development Area, is a part of State-owned Teda Filters Co Ltd, one of the country's largest facial mask filter material producers. The local government provided the company 20 million yuan ($2.8 million) to upgrade the old production line.

At present, with the addition of the upgraded line in the Beichen area, the company has five production lines running 24 hours a day and its daily production has reached 10 tons.