Egypt, China inaugurate plant to produce 1.7 million medical face masks a day

China and Egypt inaugurated on Thursday a new plant in Cairo designed to manufacture 1.7 million medical face masks per day, as part of efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

China’s Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang inaugurated the new plant, which is a joint Egyptian-Chinese investment and is located it the free industrial zone in Cairo.

The new plant is expected to multiply Egypt’s production of medical face masks by a factor of eight. It is set to meet domestic market needs for medical face masks.

Liqiang said the plant represents the profound relations between Egypt and China, adding that Beijing is supporting the North African country’s efforts to contain the spread of the virus.

The plant – which started production officially on April 7 – includes 10 machines each with a daily productive capacity of 12,000 face masks, executive director of Euromed for Medical Industries Omar Abdo said.

China will provide Egypt with all supplies and materials for the new plant, Abdo said, referring to Beijing’s intention to collaborate in producing body temperature scanners and other medical sets.