Amy Cheng

China makes millions of masks. But ramping up production is tricky. "Making masks is not as easy as you imagine," a pharmaceutical executive in China says.

Strict quarantine measures have prevented 300 million migrant workers from returning to work. Now local authorities are trying to get businesses going again. The main bottleneck: a shrunken workforce.

Some factories are beginning to reopen, but labor shortages continue. In a recent poll of U.S. companies by Shanghai's American Chamber of Commerce, 78% said they lack staff to resume full production.

On Monday, the holiday — which was extended to help slow the coronavirus outbreak — comes to an end in the capital. The city is preparing for a potential increase in infections.

American schools are advising students to avoid travel to China, and some are working to evacuate students already there. The U.S. issued a "Do Not Travel" advisory for China on Thursday.

Transportation in and out of the city of 11 million is being shut down as cases of the coronavirus are being reported throughout China and abroad. Wuhan is believed to be the contagion's epicenter.

The virus, known as 2019-nCoV, was discovered last month in the central city of Wuhan. It has since spread to other parts of China, and isolated cases are reported in Japan, the U.S. and elsewhere.

A fragile web of cross-guarantees on corporate debt could unleash a chain of private defaults in China's industrial heartland. But workers are confident they'll be bailed out, again.

Being a mom without a husband leaves many women in a legal gray zone where they are unable to access medical and other public services for themselves and their children. Some women are even fined.

China's government wants to transition away from an economic model dependent on debt-fueled infrastructure spending. That's easier said than done.