Chinese firms have resumed producing protective face masks to meet domestic demand, even as factories across China had been closed down to limit the spreading novel coronavirus outbreak amid an ongoing quarantine campaign, according to local media.

Axar.az reports that manufacturing facilities began churning out medical equipment and supplies, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

China is one of the world's biggest protective medical mask producers but has lately been hard-pressed to meet domestic demand.

"Everybody is wearing masks, from medical staff to ordinary people, and the masks are disposed of every day, so the demand for masks has exploded, causing the temporary shortage," Xinhua quoted Li Lingshen, head of the China Nonwoven and Industrial Textiles Association, as saying.

A total of 136 companies producing medical equipment are located in China's eastern Jiangxi province.