State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Tianjin have been indispensable in the port city’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, as they produce and provide hundreds, if not thousands, of tons of preventative supplies and daily necessities to its residents each day.

Workers in protective suits busy in a TEDA Filters Company workshop.

TEDA Filters Company in Tianjin Binhai New Area is going all-out, with its five production lines operating 24 hours a day in the production of ‘melt-blown nonwovens’, which are used for the microbe-intercepting middle layer of face masks.

By the end of March, the company had cumulatively made 653.65 tons of supplies in the form of 506 million plane masks and 51.62 million N95 masks.

As the impact of COVID-19 eases in China, the company has sped up production, increasing supply to hard-hit international areas which are struggling to efficiently produce preventative supplies.

“We have managed to double our mask material production capacity to 11 tons per day since the outbreak of the pandemic” said Hu Jun, the president of TEDA Filters.

As of March 31, TEDA Filters had directly exported 3.5 tons of materials and one million masks to countries and regions including South Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, Bulgaria, and Italy.

N95 masks production line of TEDA Filters Company.

Workers at Sinopec Tianjinshihua collect masks from the production line.

With the first batch of masks successfully hitting its production line on March 26, Sinopec Tianjinshihua successfully built its production capability - covering the whole mask chain from material to completed masks - in one-and-a-half months.

At present it registers a daily output of melt-blown nonwovens - an essential raw material for medical masks - of 10 tons, plus a total of completed 80,000 masks, offering a strong source of support in ensuring the creation of essential preventative supplies.

“We have extended our production chain from mask materials to producing finished masks, and are trying our best to help meet huge social demand,” said Li Yonglin, Party chief of Sinopec Tianjinshihua.

The mask-making capacity of the company is expected to hit 120,000 when the 24-hour production shifts begin.

Barrels of 84 disinfectant, made by Tianjin Dagu Chemicals Company, are loaded onto trucks for market. 

Liu Gehong, general manager of Tianjin Dagu Chemicals Company, said: "To meet surging disinfectant demand in the city and surrounding areas at the start of the epidemic, we urgently converted and upgraded our equipment and facilities. And we got the permit approval for producing 84 disinfectant in just one day, due to our long history in the related business.”

The company has cumulatively produced 26,932 tons of hydrogen peroxide and 797 tons of 84 disinfectant.

While some SOEs are committed to virus containment, others are engaged in ensuring food supplies and the resumption of daily life for residents.

Tianjin Food Group has spared no effort in guaranteeing the procurement of residents’ groceries including rice, flour, oil, meat, egg, milk and vegetables.

It reports, for example, an average daily supply to the market of 827 tons of flour and 170 tons of dairy products.

Since the city issued its emergency response on January 21, Tianjin Rail Transit has added and strengthened a series of measures such as screening temperatures, sterilizing, and ventilating to curb viral transmission and keep public transport safe.