Source of header image: IC photo, this article is from WeChat public account: Valley ID-Data: guyudata) , author: Guyu X dysprosium-dimensional, original title “ What happened behind the luxury group’s emergency production of masks?
The phrase “wear a mask” reminds you that you haven’t heard much in recent months. And the luxury goods group has convened a factory to produce masks urgently. You may have heard of it for the first time.
Masks, small objects that are rarely used or even inconspicuous by most people, have become one of the key words throughout this world’s major epidemic.
In just two months, China has gone from being aided to supporting the world.
From being initially unseen in Europe and the United States, to now being the most cherished gift, masks awaken people’s awareness of self-protection, and at the same time set off a corner of China’s global supply chain.
Gu Yu’s data tries to sort out What kind of surge in China ’s mask production capacity experienced during the epidemic, and how the European and American countries with billions of mask gaps are experiencing.
In the early days of the epidemic, world masks aid China
In the period from the end of January to the beginning of February, severe epidemic prevention measures have been introduced in various parts of China. Wearing a mask to go out is the most basic requirement. I believe most people have experienced the situation when masks were out of stock.
It can be seen from the statistics of the Chinese Customs that on January 24, that is, after New Year’s Eve, a large number of anti-epidemic medical supplies were sent from overseas to China. Among them, the number of imported masks is the largest and is growing rapidly.
From January 24 to January 30, in the week after Wuhan closed, China imported more than 56 million masks. As of February 11, 730 million masks were imported, an increase of nearly 13 times. strong>.
By February 29, the number of imported masks was 2.02 billion, a less than three-fold increase compared to February 11, and the growth rate has dropped significantly .
Among these imported anti-epidemic materials, a lot of them come from countries’ free assistance to China.
On January 25, Japan took the lead in donating masks to China. Subsequently, South Korea, Iran, Pakistan, and the United States also donated.
According to data released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as of March 2, a total of 62 countries and 7 international organizations have donated to China urgently needed materials such as masks for epidemic prevention and control.
Now that the epidemic situation in China has been basically controlled, many of these countries that donated masks in the early stages of the epidemic in China are still in the high-level epidemic stage, and mask stocks are in urgent condition.
With the rapid recovery of mask production capacity after the resumption of work, Chinese masks have begun to export aid.
China’s mask production surges to support the world
Before the outbreak, China was the world ’s largest mask manufacturer and exporter, with annual output accounting for about 50% of the world .
According to the China Textile Business Association, China ’s mask output in 2018 was about 4.54 billion pieces, and in 2019 it exceeded 5 billion pieces. That is, on average, it can produce 13 million pieces per day. strong>. Even though the output is already very high, it is far from enough in the face of the epidemic.
Data from the National Development and Reform Commission show that as of February 5, China’s daily output of masks was 14.8 million, of which N95 masks were 116,000. At that time, only 14 million masks were consumed daily by medical personnel.
However, this situation was quickly changed.
As of February 29, the daily output of masks in China, including ordinary masks, medical masks, and medical N95 masks, reached 116 million.
From January 25th to February 29th, in just over a month, the daily output of Chinese masks increased by 14.5 times .
According to the data released by enterprises, by March 17, the number of companies that have converted masks across borders has reached 15,528 .
On March 4, the World Health Organization evaluated The world will need 89 million medical masks per month, which is less than one day of mask production in China.
As the protection of frontline medical staff in China needs to be guaranteed, the contradiction between supply and demand of domestic masks has eased. Chinese masks began to board flights to various countries.
According to customs statistics, between March 6 and March 21, China provided more than 20 million to more than 20 countries and regions only Masks. On March 23, China provided Russia with 25.5 million medical masks.
On March 26, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that China has provided emergency assistance to 83 countries and international organizations, including medical supplies such as test reagents and masks.
The attitude of masks in Europe and the United States has changed dramatically
Now, masks have become a real need in the world. However, for most European and American countries, it is really too late to pay attention to masks.
On February 26, after a community-transmitted case was discovered in the United States, the official website of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still reminds: do n’t wear a mask, just wash your hands . Even around mid-March, the domestic epidemic situation in the United States increased significantly, and this period is when many schools are on spring break, and many students are still traveling to Florida. On March 23, five college students ignored social distance warnings during the spring break and insisted to celebrate with their friends to diagnose new coronary pneumonia after the spring break. After the news came out, many states in Florida announced the closure of the beach.
Most European countries and the United States treat the epidemic in much the same way.
Even with confirmed cases appearing in various European countries, the director of the French General Health Agency emphasized in an interview that “strong wearing a mask is not useful” . In Italy and Switzerland, there are also many members of parliament who have been mocked or expelled for wearing masks .
Until the beginning of March, the epidemic suddenly spread across Europe and the United States, and the pressure on the shortage of masks quickly became apparent. When the European and American countries felt the crisis, they introduced policies to ban the export of masks and other medical protective supplies to foreign countries, and tried to expand the masks. source.
The emergency response has also begun globally . According to the official website of the European Union on the 19th, in order to coordinate and help EU countries to cope with the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the European Commission decided to establish the first strategic “saving Europe” (rescEU) Medical equipment reserve , which includes ventilator and protective mask.
In order to quickly increase the supply of masks, France, while importing masks to China, called on France’s Second largest luxury goods group (Gucci) Parent company Kaiyun Group (Kering) < / span>, decided to bring its big-name luxury goods company Basilica (Balenciaga) and Saint Laurent strong> (Yves Saint Laurent) The factory adjusted and expedited the production of masks.
The degree to which governments attach importance to masks and the public’s acceptance of wearing masks, to a certain extent, affect the trend of epidemics in various countries. The situation of the world epidemic is still severe, and it can be foreseen that “masks” are still in short supply in the near future.
Reference:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs website
General Administration of Customs of China
National Development and Reform Commission
China Textile Business Association
《China Medical Mask Industry Market Prospect and Investment Research Report in 2020》
This article is from the WeChat public account: Guyu data – Tencent News (ID: guyudata) , author: Guyu dysprosium-dimensional X