Central enterprises in China have stepped up amid the pneumonia outbreak and taken various measures to help fight against the novel coronavirus.

Workers of Shenyang Rubber Research & Design Institute produce protective clothing. (Photo/Xinhua)

It is estimated that 13 hospitals affiliated to central enterprises have sent more than 500 medical workers to Hubei province, center of the novel coronavirus, to combat the epidemic.

Manufacturing companies have concentrated their efforts on producing medical supplies, and the daily output of key medical products has seen rapid growth. On Feb. 11, the daily output of disposable masks and protective clothing was 2.6 times and 2.8 times that of Feb. 5, respectively.

Meanwhile, central enterprises in energy, communication, transportation, food, and so on, have worked hard to provide high-quality services to meet people’s basic needs during this period.

As of Feb. 10, the three major telecom operators in China, China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile, had postponed 1.7 billion service shutdowns to ensure communication during the period.

The State Grid promised not to cut the power for medical supplies manufacturers that had difficulty paying bills in time due to a shortage of circulating funds, and four central enterprises in the petroleum sector have guaranteed that their over 50,000 gas stations would operate 24 hours a day, including 2,658 stations in Hubei.

By Feb. 17, central enterprises had donated a total of 2.6 billion yuan for preventing and controlling the coronavirus. The China National Pharmaceutical Group Corp and China General Technology Group have established a special fund of 1 billion yuan each for the fight against the pneumonia outbreak.