An employee of Chinese face mask maker Dasheng Health Products Manufacture Co works at the company's factory in Shanghai, East China on Friday. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

China is the only country that can alleviate a severe mask shortage in the US, experts said on Thursday in response to a top US health official's statement that the US needs 300 million face masks to prevent a possible coronavirus outbreak.

Domestic experts believe that with China's expanding mask production capacity, exporting masks to the US will be an inevitable outcome as the latter has enhanced preparedness for the deadly COVID-19.

US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said at a Senate subcommittee meeting on Tuesday that the US has a stockpile of 30 million N95 surgical masks but it needs at least 270 million more for its healthcare workers.

On Wednesday, the first coronavirus case of unknown origin was confirmed in Northern California, bringing the total number of infected cases in the US to 60.

Tian Yun, director of the China Society of Macroeconomics Research Center, told the Global Times that it is difficult for the US to purchase masks from the global market as current spread of new coronavirus across the globe - especially in Japan, South Korea, Italy and Middle East - is pushing other countries to restrict mask exports.

China, which has made great efforts to expand its mask production amid the battle against the deadly disease, could extend a helping hand to the US, he said.

The need for face masks has pushed auto, energy and shipbuilding companies to reset their assembly lines to produce protective gear.

China State Shipbuilding Cooperation, the world's largest shipbuilding group, for example, announced on Wednesday that it had reset its manufacturing line and expects to deliver 70 mask manufacturing machines and 70 N95 mask machines in March.

"Mask production capability in China is expanding rapidly. Exporting to the US will be a natural trend after domestic demand has been met," Tian said.

China produces more than half of the world's face masks and its production capacity can meet the demand for masks in the US, Japan and South Korea, Zhu Wenbing, secretary general of the Shanghai Labor Protective Article Trade Association, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"In terms of mask exports, no country has the capacity like China," Zhu said, adding that a small number of mask exporters have resumed their export business after a short suspension amid the earlier virus outbreak. 

As of Thursday, the daily production capacity of masks nationwide has hit 72.85 million units - 3.4 times that of February 1 - and the daily output has reached 76.19 million units - 7.8 times that of February 1. That has "significantly eased the contradiction between supply and demand," according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

"Once our production capacity is restored and meets China's own needs, we can export as much as the US needs," Tian said.