Fosun Joins Hands with Benevolent Enterprises in Urgent Donation of 45,500 Medical Protection Supplies Items to Italy

HONG KONG, March 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 14, at 23:50 (Beijing Time), 16:50 in the afternoon (Milan Time), the first batch of medical protection supplies from "Global Anti-virus Relief Scheme" launched by Fosun as well as the second batch donated by Fosun to Italy which consists of 45,500 items arrived in Milan. The medical protection supplies include 1,000 plastic-strip protective clothing items, 1,500 protective medical suits, 3,000 waterproof protective clothing items, and 40,000 N95 facial masks. This batch of supplies was jointly donated by Fosun Foundation together with Longfor Group and Beijing Taikang Yicai Foundation. Milan's municipal government accepted the supplies on the spot and expressed gratitude toward Fosun and the benevolent enterprises. Supplies were immediately transported to the national protection division under Milan's municipal government, and a majority of these would be allocated to regional hospitals.

Fosun Joins Hands with Benevolent Enterprises in Urgent Donation of 45,500 Medical Protection Supplies Items to Italy

Currently, Italy is the European country that has received the hardest blow from the coronavirus outbreak. As of March 15, Italy had registered 21,157 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus pneumonia. Prime Minister of Italy has announced a nationwide lockdown as of March 10 to contain the spread of the disease. On the same day, during his phone call with Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs Luigi Di Maio, China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that he would overcome any difficulties to offer Italy medical supplies assistance, including facial masks. Wang Yi commented as Italy had offered valuable support to China during the darkest hours of the country's fight against the virus, China was most willing to stand by the Italians firmly at the present juncture. China overseas medical aid team has arrived Italy on March 12.

On the package boxes containing this batch of medical supplies in support of Italy was printed the verse "As the sea of clouds dance around the morning sun, the skies abound with the magnificence of spring", which has been adapted from a poem from the late Ming dynasty Li Rihua to Italian missionary Matteo Ricci. The original poem runs, "As the sea of clouds dance around the morning sun, you travel down the stream beneath the tinged firmament. Sixty thousand miles away from the West, on a lone raft undulating to the East. Enveloped by this constantly varying world, home is where one dwells in tranquility. Why bother with those homebound dreams - when the skies abound with the magnificence of spring?" People in ancient times built friendships and talked about their ambitions through poetry. From this poem, one can feel the recognition and respect the Chinese scholar had for Matteo Ricci as their amicable relationship flourished. The rewritten work clearly demonstrates the profound friendship and best wishes that Fosun and other benevolent Chinese enterprises hold for the Italian nation.

This represents the fourth batch of medical protection supplies originating from China in support of overseas countries – which is also the second batch for Italy – ever since Fosun launched the second stage of its global anti-pandemic campaign. Prior to this, at the evening of March 12 (Mumbai Time) Fosun Foundation donated 5,000 "red zone" facial masks to India. 21:10 on March 6 (Seoul Time), Fosun Foundation donated 22,000 medical protection items to Seoul's special municipal government. On the morning of March 6 (Hokkaido Time), a first batch of 36,000 medical protection items donated by Fosun Foundation to Japan were officially received by the Hokkaido Government Office. On March 4 (Milan Time), PAREF team affiliated with Fosun also donated 5,000 "red-zone" facial masks to Milan's municipal government on behalf of Fosun Foundation.

Fosun International's Chairman Guo Guangchang said, "As a globalized corporation, we hope to be able to play a part toward helping the world win this battle against the coronavirus disease as soon as possible. We are deeply concerned about the health and safety of our staff and customers in Italy, and will continue to stand by the entire Italian nation through it all. A week ago, we offered assistance toward the anti-epidemic work in Italy at the first opportunity, and will continue to provide assistance in the form of medical supplies for other European countries including Italy, France, Germany and UK. I believe we will definitely be able to come out of the rough patch and triumph over the virus on condition that we act with prudence and solidarity by providing mutual help and support."

Ever since the novel coronavirus outbreak, Fosun has been donating supplies to frontline workers at the earliest opportunity by leveraging on its global procurement network covering 23 countries. As a globalized corporation taking roots in China, Fosun has been continuously concerned about the further escalation in the global measures aimed at the containment of the pandemic. On March 1, Fosun formally launched the second stage of its campaign against the spread of the novel coronavirus. As a committee member of the Yabuli China Entrepreneurs Forum (YCEF), Fosun International's Chairman Guo Guangchang has called for the donation of medical supplies to key, swiftly-aggravating overseas countries via the YCEF, which met with strong response from Chinese entrepreneurs and resulted in the launch of the "Global Anti-virus Relief Scheme" in conjunction with various benevolent enterprises. As of now, among the participating benevolent enterprises are Longfor Group, Beijing Taikang Yicai Foundation, Baidu Group, Sequoia Capital, New Oriental Group, Xiaomi Group, Zall Group, Central China Group, Broad Group, Wuhan Dangdai Group, Committee of QIN 100 Co., Ltd., CHINT Group and Zuodanli. More enterprises will join in the initiative later on.

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