China is stepping up to produce more ventilators to help the global fight against the COVID-19 outbreak, as the nation produces about one-fifth of the world's multi-function ventilators, the nation's top industry regulator said on Monday.

Xu Kemin, an official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said the overseas demand for multi-function ventilators is surging, and manufacturers in China are toiling day and night to meet the growing demand for their products.

"China has 21 multi-function ventilator makers and eight of them have obtained the European Union's compulsory CE marking," Xu said.

According to him, they have signed contracts for 20,000 multi-function ventilators, and many international orders are pouring in every day.

"Since March 19, these companies have provided more than 1,700 ventilators to overseas hospitals. That equals half this year's supplies to domestic hospitals," Xu added.

"One ventilator has more than 1,000 components, and some major suppliers of these parts are located in Europe. It is difficult to scale up production amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, and it is unrealistic to meet all demand,"