(Yicai Global) Feb. 7 -- China should relax its standards for face mask providers to ensure sufficient supply of the protective apparel during the novel coronavirus epidemic, according to a Chinese consultancy affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

China could expand its face mask output by accepting more marginal suppliers while boosting the products' reuse, CCID Consulting wrote in a report released on Feb. 5. The country could also open green channels for more imports, it added.

The outbreak has caused face masks to sell out across China, prompting cities such as Shanghai to launch a community program to make sure that each household can get hold of at least a few masks. 

A large number of employees have remained home amid restricted traffic and prolonged holidays so factories are not producing nor delivering goods at full capacity, Ning Yuqiang, general manager of the Beijing-based consultancy's medical research center, said in the report. 

The output of China's 1,500 face mask makers has reached 20 million units per day, which is 60 percent of their total capacity. Imports have been increased as more than 56 million medical masks entered the country in the seven days ended Jan. 30, according to customs data.

The output value of face masks is expected to rise by 38 percent this year from 2019 to surpass CNY13 billion (USD1.9 billion) due to the outbreak, added Ning.

Editor: Zhang Yushuo, Emmi Laine