China continues heavy reagent research, production

China has paid great attention to the research and production of test reagents for novel coronavirus infection and has sufficient reagents, according to Wang Jiangping, vice-minister of industry and information technology.

Wang said at a news conference in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, on Friday afternoon Chinese leaders have demanded that authorities prioritize reagent research and production. He added his ministry has been encouraging and helping enterprises speed up their production of such reagents to support anti-virus and epidemic control efforts.

"So far, 12 companies on the Chinese mainland have certificates and are busy making the reagents. By Thursday, a total of 15,374,000 sets of reagents had been delivered to hospitals and other medical facilities," the vice-minister said. "Our enterprises still have about two million sets in storage, enough for use in Hubei province and other places in China."