Premier Li Keqiang stressed working at full stretch to ensure the production and supply of key medical materials under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with President Xi Jinping as the core.

Premier Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of a leading group of the CPC Central Committee on prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak, made the remarks during an inspection visit to the national key medical supply support and dispatch platform for battling the novel coronavirus epidemic on Feb 1.

Premier Li also underlined the importance of optimizing the supply dispatching and meeting demands in key areas. At the same time, the bare necessities of life should be ensured to support the battle against the novel coronavirus epidemic, he added.

Premier Li Keqiang heard a report on the production, dispatch and support of key emergency materials such as medical protective clothing and masks.

Accelerating production of medical materials and enhancing the supply is necessary to reduce the mortality, increase the cure rate, and prevent and control the epidemic, the Premier said.

Saying that increasing supply will help enhance the power to fight the epidemic, Premier Li urged making efforts to fully utilize the production capacity by increasing qualified production in a timely manner, and to create conditions for expanding production capacity.

He also urged improving the standards for scientific use of medical materials in different places and among different people.

He emphasized that priority must be given to medical staff on the front line when dispatching the key medical materials.

The State Council's mechanism for joint prevention and control should strengthen the unified dispatch of key medical materials at the national level, and all functional departments must join hands to ensure the supply of medical materials in Hubei province, especially in Wuhan, the Premier said.

The Premier had video calls with manufacturers of medical protective clothing and masks in Henan and Fujian provinces, and sent his greetings to the busy workers.

The enterprises told him about the current production and indicated that they will work overtime to support the epidemic prevention and control.

Premier Li asked them whether there was any difficulty and whether the raw materials can be ensured.

He said that it is a shared task faced by all Chinese people to prevent and control the novel coronavirus epidemic, and medical supply is an important part of the efforts.

Production enterprises are like "ordnance factories", and producing more products would deliver more safety for medical staff and the public, said the Premier. He urged increasing production with good quality.

As the epidemic prevention and control efforts continue, Premier Li said, a tougher task is to provide sufficient basic necessities, including vegetables, meat, milk and eggs, for the people.

To ensure people's normal life, each region should expand the necessary supply and help wholesalers, supermarkets and convenience stores replenish their stock in a timely manner, Premier Li said. Also, he stressed the importance of keeping transportation order, smoothing the green channel, and coordinating the logistics.

Alongside enough supplies, commodity prices should be basically stable to create a healthy market, Premier Li added, advocating strict legal punishment to sellers jacking up prices and hoarding goods to reap big profits or offering fake and forged products.

The Premier encouraged the staff members to enhance their confidence and join hands to win the battle against the epidemic outbreak through science-based and targeted prevention and control measures.

Vice-Premier Liu He, State Councilor Xiao Jie, and He Lifeng, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, were also present.