BEIJING, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called for greater efforts to speed up the manufacturing and secure the supply of key medical products to help curb the epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus.

Li, also head of the leading group of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak, made the remarks Saturday during an inspection at a national coordination center of key medical supplies for epidemic prevention and control.

Noting the importance of faster manufacturing and increased supply of key medical products like protective clothing and masks, Li stressed the need to fully tap the potential production capacity and race against time to increase production on the basis of ensuring quality.

He highlighted that medical staff fighting the epidemic should have the priority access to those supplies and asked the national coordination mechanism to allocate more medical resources to key regions hit hard by the virus.

During video calls to medical supplies manufacturing enterprises, Li asked about their production and extended greetings to the employees who work during the holiday.

He also stressed the importance of ensuring the supply of daily necessities for the public.