How a carmaker became a maskmaker

BYD, China's new-energy vehicle giant turned coronavirus warrior, said it expects to export 1 billion protective masks by the end of May, as it has added production lines to meet a surge in global demand.

Li Wei, director of the president's office of the company in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, said BYD masks have been delivered to 50 countries and regions, including Japan, Russia, Hungary, New Zealand and many more. BYD employees have been working around the clock to raise production capacity.

From the end of February to May 10, BYD increased its daily mask production from 5 million to 50 million — tenfold growth in roughly two months — to become one of the world's biggest mask producers.

Responding to the emergency, BYD quickly changed track from cars to high-quality medical masks. According to the company, from February to April, the masks were mainly offered in the domestic market. Later on, as the overseas epidemic became severe, the company shifted its focus to export masks to those areas.