Chinese enterprise donates automatic mask production lines to help Pakistan fight COVID-19

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has received two automatic, intelligent mask production lines courtesy a Chinese firm wishing to help Pakistan build its mask industry, APP reported on Saturday.

Xuzhou Xunyike System Technology, a leading high-tech enterprise providing integrated solutions for intelligent manufacturing, has donated the two production lines.

Each machine has a capacity to produce 100,000 masks per day, Xunyike General Manager Qin Ping said in an interview. The production line donated to Pakistan, through Pakistan Embassy in Beijing, can ensure fully automatic production. It can also ensure remote data collection, debugging and maintenance services by giving operating instructions in Suzhou.

“There is no mask industry in Pakistan, so we are donating the production lines to help Pakistan build the mask industry,” he told Economic Daily-China Economic Net.

Qin Ping said the complete mask production line involves a lot of things. In addition to the mask machine itself, there are also packaging systems and other auxiliary equipment.

“We initially considered donating a complete, fully automatic (mask production line), but considering that Pakistan itself does not have a mask industry, we later handed over relatively easy-to-operate semi-automatic equipment, at least to ensure that export masks can be produced immediately,” he added.

In March this year, Xunyi Branch donated two fully automatic intelligent mask production lines to Pakistan.

Qin Ping said the fully automatic mask production line has relatively high skill requirements for workers, and the equipment has to be assembled after it is disassembled and shipped. The process is “very complicated”, he said.

“The semi-automatic production line only needs more labour. Although the production capacity is not as high as that of the fully automatic variant, but if the workers can be trained in operations, the two production lines should produce 100,000 masks per day.”

Liu Huaqu, the technical supervisor, said that the company developed its mask producing machine in the first 15 days after the outbreak of COVID-19.

Separately, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) also received a donation from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), in which 40 ventilators were included. The consignment included 50,000 N-95 masks, 60,000 surgical masks, and 4,000 testing kits.

Pakistan procures equipment
A plane carrying 20 tonnes of medical equipment procured by Pakistan also reached the capital from China, a spokesperson for the NDMA said.

The medical gear had been procured through the National Disaster Risk Management Fund.

The equipment includes 99 ventilators, 260,000 N-95 masks, 300 protective suits, 600 safety goggles, over 7,000 KN-95 masks, and 6,000 surgical masks, the spokesperson said.

The unanimous resolution passed in recognition of China
On May 14, the Senate had unanimously passed a resolution thanking the Chinese people and government for their continuous support during the pandemic.

“Senate of Pakistan rejects the baseless propaganda against China from certain quarters, which stems from geopolitical rivalry and is more an attempt to divert attention from their own internal failings as it has no factual basis,” read the resolution.

China has sent several consignments to Pakistan in a bid to help the country tackle the pandemic. Last month, it had sent a cargo of medical emergency relief items. The medical supplies included PCR testing kits, surgical masks, protective overall suits, N95 masks, and ventilators.

May 17: Pakistan Ambassador to China, Naghmana Hashmi has thanked Chinese government and all sectors for providing a large amount of medical supplies and materials to Pakistan and said that these donations have enhanced Pakistan ability to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We thank the Chinese government and all sectors of society for the large amount of medical supplies and materials provided to Pakistan. The Chinese people concern for the health and well-being of human compatriots not only reflects a kind character but it also made me deeply feel the peculiarities of the peace and benevolence of Chinese civilization”, she said in an interview with China Economic Net.

Ambassador Hashmi said that Pakistan has received medical supplies worth several million yuan from various levels of government, enterprises, private organizations and individuals of China.

These donations have enhanced Pakistan’s ability to fight the pandemic. “China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic partners, and China has provided a lot of assistance to Pakistan at this critical moment, once again proving that Pak-China relations have been continuously consolidated and deepened during the challenges to manage the donated materials and ensure a smooth delivery to Pakistan”. she said.

Ambassador Hashmi guided the establishment of a team responsible for liaison and assistance to donors. The working group would also arrange the delivery of the most urgently needed medical equipment to Pakistan based on the feedback from the Pakistan National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Ambassador Hashmi said, “I would like to thank all the Chinese government departments for their great support. With their help and coordination, we have overcome a series of difficulties and promptly sent donations to Pakistan”.

She said China is the first country to be affected by the new coronavirus pandemic, and is currently the country that has successfully curbed the infectious disease in an all-round way. After winning the domestic anti- pandemic campaign, China has made significant contributions to the international community’s efforts to combat the new crown epidemic.

As the global anti-pandemic situation is still grim, China is still facing a large supply of medical supplies, but China has actively responded to requests from relevant countries and provided high-quality medical supplies in a timely manner.

Ambassador Hashmi believes that China, as a responsible big country, has independently completed these production and supply tasks and met the expectations of the international community, which is commendable.

She finally emphasized, “Thanks to the Chinese people for their enthusiastic support to Pakistan, we look forward to closer cooperation to fight against the new coronavirus”.