The Egyptian authorities received on Saturday the third batch of medical aid from the Chinese government to help the North African country with its fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.
Delivered at Cairo international airport, the third batch of medical supplies, which weighs over 35 tons, includes 1 million medical surgical face masks, 180,000 N95 masks, 90,000 sets of medical protective clothing, 80,000 testing reagents, 70,000 pairs of disposable surgical gloves and 1,000 sets of thermometers.
Egyptian Health Ministry Undersecretary Mohamed Shawky said during a ceremony held at Cairo airport that the Chinese medical aid “reflects the close ties of friendship between the two countries.”
“We present to the international community a model for relations between two friends and mutual support amid a global pandemic that we all suffer from,” the Egyptian official added.
He stressed that the Chinese medical aid will help a lot at isolation hospitals in Egypt that has recently been seeing a growing number of cases infected with the novel coronavirus.
Egypt received the first batch of the Chinese government’s medical aid in mid-April and it included 20,000 N95 masks, 10,000 protective suits and 10,000 testing kits for COVID-19, while the second was delivered on May 10 and it consisted of 10,000 N95 masks, 10,000 protective suits and 70,000 nucleic acid detection reagents.
Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang said during the ceremony that Egypt supported China at a critical moment of its fight against COVID-19 and China also provides wholehearted support to Egypt in its anti-coronavirus battle.
Liao noted that the third batch of Chinese medical aid coincides with the 64th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Egypt and China, highlighting the “profound friendship” between the peoples of the two countries.
He added that Chinese and Egyptian medical experts held several video conference meetings to exchange expertise on fighting the pandemic, besides a recently established Sino-Egyptian face mask factory in Cairo that is scheduled to produce about 1.5 million masks per day.
In addition to the Chinese government’s medical aid, some Chinese provincial and municipal governments, organizations and enterprises also donated medical supplies to Egypt, according to the Chinese ambassador.
Egypt and China enjoy distinguished bilateral relations that have been elevated to the level of comprehensive strategic partnership.
“We highly appreciate the Chinese gifts to Egypt, whether provided by the Chinese government, the Chinese provinces or the civil society organizations. These gifts embody the strength of ties that connects the two countries,” Hany Selim, Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister for Asian Affairs, told Xinhua on the sidelines of the ceremony.
“The support provided by China to the peoples of the world during this crisis is a practical embodiment of the principle of shared destiny for mankind,” said the Egyptian diplomat.
A worker transfers medical supplies from China in Cairo, Egypt, on May 10, 2020. Egypt received on Sunday the second batch of medical aid from the Chinese government for the North African country to fight the COVID-19 epidemic. (Xinhua/Wu Huiwo)
