BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's state-owned Sinopharm Group has been stepping up efforts to produce test kits for the novel coronavirus, with its daily production capacity expanded to 4,000, the company said at a press conference Saturday.

To combat the epidemic, the firm's self-developed nucleic acid test kits were submitted for approval promptly and its production has been revved up to ensure amply supply, said Liu Jingzhen, president of the company.

As of Feb. 10, a total of 20,000 detection kits were manufactured by the firm, which can be used to test one million patient specimens, according to Liu.

The company has also been producing interferon alfa, an antiviral drug capable of regulating human immunity, at full capacity and planned to put the product into the market in late March.

Sinopharm Group is a centrally-administered state-owned enterprise focusing on pharmaceutical and health industry. It ranked 169th among global top 500 companies with an operating revenue of about 500 billion yuan (71.6 billion U.S. dollars) last year.