The first batch of medical supplies including masks purchased by Alibaba Group from overseas arrived Thursday at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport, according to the Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant.
The medical supplies from Indonesia were transported by Eastern Air Logistics, a subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines. Another aircraft, loaded with over 11 tonnes of medical supplies, which were also bought by Alibaba, departed from Seoul and landed in Shanghai on the same day.
The materials will be used in the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus epidemic in Hubei.
China Eastern Airlines said it would team up with Alibaba in the purchase and transportation of medical supplies from countries including Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, and Russia.
Alibaba said it has worked with several cross-border e-commerce platforms to buy medical supplies. The group has set up a 1-billion-yuan (about 144 million U.S. dollars) special fund for medical supplies as well as a health guarantee of up to 500,000 yuan for medical workers who are on the frontline fighting the epidemic.
