Chinese companies rush to produce anti-covid kit
Makers of booze, cars, nappies and spacecraft are retooling to fight the epidemic
CHINESE DISTILLERS of baijiu are proud of their role in Mao’s Long March, when the firewater produced by Kweichow Moutai is fabled to have sterilised soldiers’ wounds and steeled their resolve. It is only fitting, then, that they would mobilise for what China has termed a “people’s war” against covid-19. Moutai has donated 114m yuan ($16m). Others have gone further, setting up sidelines in medical disinfectant made with 75% ethanol. Amid an acute shortage of antivirus gear, the state is handing out production licences.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “The anti-covid industrial complex”
From the March 14th 2020 edition
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