Technical textile exports from China fetched $34.29 billion in the first five months of 2020. This included $22.56 billion of masks and $2.19 billion of protective clothing, according to the official data. The industry also witnessed a sharp growth in production, sales and profits, owing to the soaring demand for these goods due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the five-month period, profits of large-scale technical textile companies, i.e. companies with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan ($2.86 million) skyrocketed 189.08 per cent year-on-year to 12.69 billion, according to data from the ministry of industry and information technology.

Total revenues of these large-scale enterprises shot up by 13.25 per cent year-on-year to 103.92 billion yuan.