Ventilator SOS: Chinese Companies on 24-Hour Emergency Duty... 20,000 Units Ordered Overseas (Comprehensive)

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sun-mi] Chinese artificial respirator manufacturers are experiencing a special boom due to a flood of overseas orders amid the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) pandemic. These are essential devices for treating severe pneumonia symptoms, and shortages are worsening in the United States and Europe, where patient numbers are rapidly increasing.

On the 31st, Global Times reported that Chinese companies producing invasive (tracheostomy) ventilators for critically ill patients are operating their factories 24 hours a day and even reallocating research and development (R&D) personnel to production lines. They have received over 20,000 orders from overseas so far, with more continuing to pour in.

China is benefiting from the ventilator boom because, while the world is experiencing severe supply shortages, Chinese factories are gradually emerging from the COVID-19 impact zone and restarting operations. In particular, there are 21 companies in China producing invasive ventilators, and among them, 8 have received European quality certification (CE), demonstrating recognized technological capabilities.

Due to the flood of orders, some Chinese companies have converted production lines that previously made surgical beds to produce ventilators. So far, about 1,700 ventilators have been supplied worldwide, which corresponds to half of China's average annual ventilator export volume. In response to the surge in orders, some cities including Beijing have reduced the import permit approval time for key ventilator components from one week to one day.

However, there are also forecasts that production limits will emerge due to unstable supply of parts used in ventilators. Typically, ventilators contain more than 1,000 components, and Chinese ventilator companies import 30-40% of key parts such as chips and sensors from Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, the United States, and other countries. Some companies reportedly face restrictions in procuring parts because they cannot purchase sensors from Honeywell in the U.S. due to logistics issues.

With the spread of COVID-19, the world is experiencing a severe shortage of ventilators. In Italy, snorkeling masks are being used as makeshift ventilators, and in the U.S., one ventilator is being shared between two patients. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo repeatedly emphasized the urgent need by shouting "ventilators, ventilators, ventilators."

In the U.S., automobile company Ford teamed up with General Electric (GE) on the 30th (local time) to start ventilator production, and President Donald Trump ordered General Motors (GM) to produce ventilators. Johns Hopkins University in the U.S. stated that there are currently 160,000 ventilators available in the country, but in the worst-case scenario, up to 740,000 may be needed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.