Like Chen and Hassan, there are a large number of Chinese and Iranians extending their helping hands as brothers and sisters to fight against COVID-19 in Iran.

Photo taken on March 21, 2020 shows the official account of the Iranian Embassy in China on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. (Xinhua/Deng Hua)

by Xinhua writers Meng Yifei, Chen Lin, Wang Pan

BEIJING, March 22  -- Since March 5, Chinese businessman Chen Cangsong and his Iranian friend Hassan Tavana have been working around the clock, busy with gathering donations from all over the world and then sending them to Iran, where the COVID-19 epidemic is raging.

Both Chen and Hassan serve on the Business Council of the United Nations Maritime-Continental Silk Road Cities Alliance based in Quanzhou, in the southeastern Chinese Province of Fujian, where they have sent a rush shipment of supplies, including over 80,000 medical masks and 3,000 goggles, to Iran.

Chen is busy dealing with the influx of messages from donors in member companies scattered in 16 countries. "We have our phones work day and night to make sure no donation is missed as sometimes messages come around midnight or before dawn," Chen said.

Like Chen and Hassan, there are a large number of Chinese and Iranians extending their helping hands as brothers and sisters to fight against COVID-19 in Iran.