Face mask producers in China minting money

Wworkers producing face masks at a factory in Handan in China's northern Hebei province. - As the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic that originated in the city of Wuhan has gone global, thousands of factories in China have nimbly turned to a new and very profitable market -– face masks for export. - AFP

BEIJING (AFP): As the coronavirus pandemic that originated in a central Chinese city has gone global, thousands of factories in China have nimbly turned to a new and very profitable market -- face masks for export.

At the height of China's outbreak in early February, Guan Xunze's company created a new mask factory in just eleven days.