California to purchase masks from Chinese EV maker BYD

PALO ALTO, U.S. -- California has reached an agreement with Chinese electric carmaker BYD to supply the state with much-needed personal protection gears including masks, the governor's office said at a COVID-19 briefing Wednesday.

BYD America, the North America subsidiary of the leading Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, "has a direct reach back into China and is able to build a pipeline of a sustainable amount of monthly mass [personal protection equipment supplies] that will be coming in to assist us here in California," said Mark Ghilarducci, the state's director emergency services.