A process produces a coated metal strip from a semi-finished strip, in which the semi-finished strip is reeled off a coil. A corrosion protection layer is then applied to the semi-finished strip and the coated semi-finished strip is then reeled up to form a coil. The semi-finished strip is a cold-rolled strip obtained by cold rolling, cooling and recrystallization annealing. A medium containing metallic particles is applied to form the corrosion protection layer. The medium is a wet-chemical solution which is applied by spraying, dipping, squirting, flooding or rolling. The corrosion protection layer is dried on the cold-rolled strip by supplying heat at a temperature below the recrystallization annealing temperature of the cold-rolled strip after application of the medium and before reeling-up.