Global supply chains are set for a major reshuffle as the coronavirus pandemic exposes the vulnerability of countries and companies that rely heavily on a limited number of trading partners.

The new coronavirus disease, formally known as COVID-19, was first reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. Since late-January, a wave of city-wide closures and quarantines in China have shut down factories in the world's second-largest economy, disrupting supply chains globally.

"One of the things that really became apparent with COVID-19 is the rapid change that has occurred in terms of the critical mass of value chains that have built up in China from 2003 when we had SARS to 2019," said Alex Capri, a visiting senior fellow at the National University of Singapore's business school.

SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, was another kind of coronavirus that broke out in 2002 and 2003 that wrought damage to China's economy.

Then, China's contributed 4% to the world's GDP. Now, the country contributes almost 20% to world GDP, with much of the growth coming from foreign investment.

Much of that investment have gone into the manufacturing sector, but a lot of that is now in "sharp reversal" as companies look at ring-fencing risks and localizing their supply chains, particularly those in strategic areas like technology and pharmaceuticals, Capri told CNBC.

Due to retaliatory tariffs imposed on each other in the U.S.-China trade war, companies had already started diversifying their supply chains out of China. The speed at which they do this will now accelerate, Capri told CNBC.

"We are going to see massive restructuring of supply chains," said Capri, who has over two decades of experience in various trade roles including leading the Asia trade and customs practice at accounting giant KPMG.

While China is gradually returning to work, it could take months, "probably quarters" to ramp up operations and catch up on lost output, supply chain risk management software company riskmethods said in a report last updated Thursday.

Citing a February survey by German supply chain consultant Kloepfel Consulting, riskmethods noted that every third company has major Chinese customers and 81% of companies it surveyed rely on Chinese suppliers.