Workers produce non-invasive ventilators at a medical technology company in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Jan. 31, 2020. (Xinhua/Yang Qing)

Indian enterprises are seeking to import ventilators from China as the country enhances its coronavirus prevention measures and stocks up on related medical materials.

The Global Times learnt from the Representative Office in India of the China Council for Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) that an Indian enterprise has contacted the office trying to import ventilators from Chinese producers.

Besides imports by enterprises, the Indian government is also stepping up efforts to gather medical supplies.

After announcing a 21-day nationwide lockdown, "India was working on urgent modalities to procure medical items, including ventilators and vital components required for manufacturing N95 masks and personal protective equipment from China to fight COVID-19," local newspaper Economic Times reported on Friday.

At the same time, the Indian government is planning to order about 40,000 ventilators from its two public sector units (PSUs), according to the Hindustan Times.

The public medical resources per capita in India are not adequate given its large population when a potential epidemic may break out, Qian Feng, a senior fellow with the Taihe Institute and director of the research department of the National Strategy Institute under Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Monday.

If any relatively large-scale outbreak happens, India's domestic production capacity for medical supplies could not meet the demand, according to analysis by the Representative Office in India of the CCPIT.

As the epidemic has eased in China, the country has been offering help to countries and regions to fight against the outbreak, including both medical personnel and medical supplies.

China has provided over 1,700 invasive ventilators to aid foreign countries since March 19, said Xu Kemin, an official from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, told a press conference on Monday.

Currently, China has 21 enterprises producing invasive ventilators. Major products produced by eight of them have obtained CE credentials and the weekly production capacity is 2,200 units, accounting for about 20 percent of the global production capacity, Xu said.

The Chinese ventilator producers have received orders for 20,000 units and there are plenty of overseas orders being discussed every day, Xu said.

An industry insider surnamed Shi told the Global Times that China's ventilators are about half the price of products made overseas.

Global Times