Yahoo Finance Chinese adult nappy firm Daddybaby approved to make UK protective masks
China’s best-selling nappy brand, Daddybaby, will soon be producing protective masks for the UK.
The firm has been certified by the British Standards Institution (BSI) and the EU to offer personal protective equipment (PPE), according to a statement on Monday.
“This certification will permit the company to break new grounds as its products are now in compliance with EU standards,” Daddybaby said.
It is one of several businesses that have transitioned to producing medical supplies and equipment in the face of heightened demand due to COVID-19.
British officials have paid up to £320m ($415m) of taxpayer money to Chinese state-backed companies as they scramble to secure medical supplies to deal with the health crisis, according to The Telegraph.
In May, the UK government announced it had signed deals with more than 100 new suppliers from around the world, in addition to ramping up domestic production. At the time, the government said over 1.48 billion items of PPE were delivered to the frontlines in England with tens of millions more items distributed in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
The company normally specialises in baby nappies, adult nappies and sanitary towels. After modifying six production lines, it has increased its output to 1,100 mask pieces per minute — 10 times higher than the output of ordinary mask production lines.
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In 2015, Daddybaby became the first publicly-listed company in China's diaper industry. It has been donating medical supplies to governments, universities and countries in need as coronavirus cases continue mounting around the world.
During the pandemic, BSI created a CE-Dedicated FastTrack Review Service that allowed Chinese mask manufacturers to expedite the export procedure to support the fight against COVID-19 in Europe, while also ensuring the products conformed to the European Commission's recommendations for PPE.
Daddybaby said it has been able to meet the heightened demand by building a 4.0 smart factory, which was equipped with world-class automated production lines to the tune of 500 million yuan.
The companies traditional nappy and sanitary products are exported to Japan, South Korea and other countries. Its annual output stands at 4 billion yuan.
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