Jochen Kirkorowicz (R), chief executive officer of Foehl China Co, inspects the operation of his company in Taicang, Jiangsu province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Qi Han, in the city of Taicang, east China's Jiangsu province, is busy inspecting the operation of his company amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Qi Han is his Chinese name, his real name is Jochen Kirkorowicz, from Germany.

As the chief executive officer of Foehl China Co., Ltd., Kirkorowicz has stayed in China for almost 11 years and obtained a permanent residence certificate earlier this year.

Kirkorowicz's relatives had asked him to return to Germany since the outbreak, but he turned them down with little hesitation. "My family and employees are here and if I leave, it's like a ship losing its captain at the helm. I want to stay and help with the fight against the virus," he said.

Founded in 2005, Foehl China focuses on manufacturing products used in automobile seats, seat belts and antennae. About 250 people are working for the company.

Now about 60 percent of the employees have returned to work, but still, the company is shorthanded.

Kirkorowicz has therefore offered extra rewards to employees who return to work before late February as well as job transfer training to help staff take up the vacant posts.

"The epidemic will surely have a big impact on us, and we're trying hard to keep the production line running," said Kirkorowicz.

The epidemic also made Kirkorowicz realize the importance of automatic manufacturing. "Automation allows you to have fewer workers," said Kirkorowicz.

Kirkorowicz said his company has cooperated with a Singaporean enterprise to build a traceable production platform to raise the company's efficiency.

"The goal is to guarantee a zero-mistake delivery to customers because we are producing life-saving products," he said.

Taicang is considered as the hometown of German enterprises in China. The city hosts over 320 German companies with a total annual output value of more than 50 billion yuan (about 7.1 billion U.S. dollars).

So far over 300 German enterprises in Taicang have resumed operations and the city has announced a set of measures to facilitate foreign enterprises in work resumption amid the coronavirus outbreak.

"It's amazing how the Chinese government is handling this complicated issue (the novel coronavirus outbreak), and I think the world can now learn from China in its control and prevention," said Kirkorowicz.