The 2020 China (Dongguan) International Forum and Exhibition on Epidemic Prevention and Health Industry Development opened in Dongguan on October 19.

The two-day exhibition consists of five exhibition areas, including a mask equipment & raw materials area, a mask products & epidemic prevention materials area, a disinfection equipment area, a general health area, and a comprehensive service area. There are more than 150 companies participating in the exhibition, with nearly 400 booths.

"I am pleased to hear that Dongguan has made a major contribution in the fight against the epidemic. The production of mask machines in the city accounts for 60% of the total in the country. I am proud of the Dongguan government and the epidemic prevention industry companions in Dongguan," said Zhong Nanshan, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, head of China's National Health Commission high-level expert group and winner of "Medal of the Republic", as he spoke highly of Dongguan in a video speech shown during the opening ceremony.

According to Xiao Yafei (Deputy Secretary of the CPC Dongguan Municipal Committee and Mayor of Dongguan), as an international manufacturing city, Dongguan's industrial support and production capacity has been further highlighted in the battle against COVID-19 outbreak. The production capacity of mask machines in Dongguan once accounted for more than 60% of the country's total. The daily production capacity of masks in the city was less than 200,000 pieces per day in January. However, it rapidly increased to more than 20 million pieces per day by May, which strongly supported the overall anti-epidemic campaign in Guangdong Province and the rest of the country. Currently, there are 131 anti-epidemic material manufacturers in the city that have entered the export whitelist, forming an epidemic prevention industry chain with a wide variety of products.

"The KF94 fish mask machine that we exported to South Korea can produce 120 masks in 1 minute. Except for the material-filling process, other processes such as production, testing, and packaging are all unmanned." Li Zhonghua, general manager of Guangdong Ruidi Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., proudly told a reporter at the exhibition.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, Ruidi has produced and sold hundreds of mask machines of various models, a large number of which have been exported to Vietnam and South Korea. The company displayed three newly- developed production lines at the exhibition. "The greatest feature of these production lines is that they are basically unmanned. Moreover, because of the all-electric mode, and improved indicators such as noise reduction, they have attracted many buyers' attention." Li said that many buyers have decided to visit Ruidi's factory for further inspection and cooperation.