Jiangsu lends helping hand to coronavirus-stricken countries

2020-03-18 15:28:00

Materials donated by Wuxi ready to be delivered from Wuxi.

Jiangsu Province has ramped up support to other countries that have reported spikes in COVID-19 cases by donating materials and sharing treatment experience.

Active in foreign exchanges, Jiangsu has 339 international sister cities and 428 friendly exchange cities in 63 countries around the world. Goodwill offers of support and medical supplies from some of them and from international organizations poured in to help the province combat the epidemic as the outbreak began. Currently, China’s coronavirus caseload continues to wane while the coronavirus takes a firmer hold in other countries. Now, Jiangsu’s cities including Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, and Nantong are ready to return the favor.

The Sino-Italian Friendship Chalet in Suzhou’s Fuqiao Town, a witness to the friendly relations between the two countries, is seeing the ties further deepened. After the epidemic spread globally, chalet head Lu Bin raised more than 20,000 yuan ($2,855) to purchase 10,800 medical masks and sent them to the Suzhou Foreign Affairs Office on the morning of March 16. The materials will now be given to a hospital and the government of Macerata City.

Nantong and Siena, Italy entered into a sister-city relationship last year. Recently, Nantong Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, together with a number of domestic hospitals, has collected 200,000 yuan worth of medical supplies, including masks, protective clothing and gloves, and sent them to Italy through a chartered flight coordinated by the local foreign affairs department.

Wuxi sent messages of support to Sagamihara in Japan and Gimhae, Ulsan, Icheon, and Cheongju in South Korea. It also donated 60,000 medical masks and 1,500 sets of medical protective clothing to South Korea and Japan.

In addition, Wujin District of Changzhou donated 100,000 masks and 456 bottles of hand sanitizer to Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. The Yancheng government donated 300,000 masks to Kia Motors, Hyundai Mobis, SKI, Hyundai Motor Group (China) and other South Korean companies located in the city to support their anti-epidemic efforts.

Jiangsu has also proactively shared its experience gained from fighting against the virus. On March 9, a medical team of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, part of the Jiangsu medical team, rushed to assist Pakistan.

The unique management methods of foreign-invested companies in Jiangsu used to control COVID-19 provided many valuable ideas to their overseas parent companies. For example, the Japanese parent company of Okanetsu Machinery (Changzhou) decided to follow exactly the path taken by its subsidiary during the special period.