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

Chinese companies are ramping up exports of medical face masks to address worldwide shortages in the fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but slow regulatory approval processes and disrupted logistics have hindered the progress, according to factory sources, officials, and industry insiders on Monday.

Foreign media reports have accused China of hoarding face masks, when many countries face shortages. However, interviews with factory representatives and officials tell a different story, where China is sending face masks overseas by donations and commercial transactions while it faces shrinking supplies at home.

Glory Medical, a Shenzhen-based medical supplies manufacturer, told the Global Times it had received export orders for surgical face masks. A representative did not say where the orders were from or the size. 

To meet skyrocketing demands for face masks and other protective medical supplies at home and abroad, last month, the company opened a factory in Cambodia. 

"This production base will significantly ease the pressure on the domestic production base to deliver orders driven by rapid growth in global demand," the company said.

Like Glory Medical, many Chinese companies are scrambling to increase production to meet both domestic and overseas demand for face masks. 

While the specific amount of export orders remains unclear due to complications within the supply chain, Chinese officials said that facemask exports have been ongoing and will increase along with production.

"There have been mask exports, though they mostly took place this month," an official with the local trade bureau of Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang Province, a major export hub, told the Global Times on Monday, adding that data on export orders will be available next month.

Until recently, China, which was hit by COVID-19 first, had grappled with face mask shortages and searched the globe in efforts to more and other medical supplies. However, as officials ordered companies to increase face mask production, domestic output has increased. 

On Monday, daily face mask production had reached 100 million, according to China News Services. The companies producing face masks increased 16-fold to 52,411, including 17,013 companies focused on export orders, the report said. 

While domestic supplies remain tight, as more employees are returning to work, "we are happy to see export companies are organizing masks and other medical supplies for overseas, and make a concrete contribution to the global effort against the epidemic," Li Xingqian, a senior official with the Chinese Commerce Ministry, said recently, denying accusations the country restricted mask exports and other supplies.

Chinese companies have received more export orders from the US, Japan, and throughout Europe. Hangzhou, Zhejiang-based GreatStar said last week it has gained approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for its masks and was preparing to export more to the US.

European government agencies and companies, for example, from Germany, have also come to Yiwu to purchase masks and airlift them home, according to an official with Yiwu's market development commission. 

"Companies that have export certificates have also been exporting masks," the official, surnamed Ding, told the Global Times on Monday.

As more companies prepare export orders, many face hurdles in gaining regulatory approval from foreign governments as normal work hours have been disrupted by the epidemic, according to industry insiders. 

A Shanghai company that helps domestic companies with export paperwork said the filing fee for a "Chinese export" certificate had risen by 6,000 yuan, and the wait time is upwards of nine days when previously it had only been a week. 

"With the epidemic in Europe remaining serious, the number of employees has dropped, and the hours have been extended," said a company representative to the Global Times on Monday.

Smaller mask manufacturers in North China's Hebei Province told the Global Times they don't have the necessary certificates to export face masks.

"As I understand it, there are some [companies] that are trying to export masks, but foreign countries require local certificates," said an official in Zhejiang Province, noting that companies have to find other ways to export.

Regulatory measures implemented by foreign authorities have undermined the export ability of Chinese companies producing face masks, said the China Chamber of International Commerce (CCIC), in a statement on Monday.

Although some, including US and European regulators, have tried to relax restrictions, Chinese companies must navigate through complex systems to acquire the proper certificates before exporting supplies to different countries, which require a long list of documents, according to the CCIC.

"Despite relaxed requirements for supplies in the fight against the epidemic by Europe, the US, and others, technical requirements have not been relaxed, and there has been more focus on inspection, punishment, and other market regulations," the CCIC said.   

Ding said that Yiwu was setting up a platform to facilitate the import and export of essential supplies in the fight against COVID-19. 

He also said that companies have to ship face masks overseas through the China-Europe freight train route or with postal services.