A couple tackle the pollution in a shopping district amid heavy smog after the capital issued its first ever "red alert" for air pollution on Dec 8, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

AS HEAVY SMOG has plagued more parts of China in recent years, foreign manufacturers of anti-pollution face masks, especially the US company 3M, have achieved huge success in the Chinese market. China Youth Daily commented on Tuesday:

It is estimated that 3M alone accounts for about 90 percent of the market share in China. And, according to a 2015 report on face masks sold in the country, only 1 out of the 5 most popular brands is a domestic one.

To many people, foreign face mask producers' sweeping success in China is bewildering, as products like face masks do not seem to require cutting-edge technologies that Chinese manufacturers do not possess.

A similar question was posed last year by Premier Li Keqiang, who asked why did China, the world's biggest manufacturer of ballpoint pens, producing 38 billion ballpoint pens per year, have to purchase crucial components from overseas at a annual cost of $17.3 million?

It was only recently that the State-owned Taiyuan Iron and Steel (Group) Co in North China's Shanxi province announced it had made a breakthrough and planned to mass-produce ballpoint pen tips within two years.

To some extent, Chinese mask producers have been struggling to compete with their foreign rivals because they did not pay as much attention to the quality of their products.

Investments were poured into the industry only after 2013, when Chinese citizens began to realize the health-related risks caused by smog and the importance of basic protection.

As a result, the number of face mask producers almost doubled in two years, and the quality of many is questionable. A recent report issued by East China's Jiangsu bureau of quality and technical supervision showed 99 out of the 160 examined face masks was not up to standard.

Manufacturing face masks is not technologically inconceivable or unachievable, and the demand for them keeps surging against the backdrop of the frequent severe air pollution, a total of 800 billion are needed across the country per year. It is shame that some face mask makers squander opportunities like this at the cost of public health.