File photo: Hospitals in Wuhan and the wider province of Hubei are facing a flood of patients as a result of the coronavirus [The Central Hospital of Wuhan via Weibo/Reuters]

A Chinese medical team of experts comprising doctors, nurses and technicians is on the way to Bangladesh to help local physicians combat the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming has said here.

He has disclosed this in a message marking the Muslims' fasting month of Ramadan .

The message also revealed that the China-Bangladesh Friendship International Exhibition Centre in Dhaka, fully funded by China, would turn into a makeshift hospital for the coronavirus patients.

The envoy said China will continue to stand and work closely with Bangladesh and the world to fight together against the pandemic for a better and shared future.

"Today, at this crucial juncture, China is firmly standing by Bangladesh and other Muslim countries to combat the pandemic," he said, adding Chinese medical equipment and expert teams have already been sent to Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Pakistan and other Muslim countries in Africa.

He recalled with immense gratefulness, the timely and invaluable support, both material and spiritual, extended by the government and the people of Bangladesh to China when the epidemic first hit his own country.

From China's part, he said, they started offering assistance to friendly Bangladesh by sending the very first batch of 500 fast test kits as early as February 22, of which China was also in bad need at that time.

Since then, Ambassador Jiming said, China has so far donated medical equipment and materials, including detection kits and tubes, ventilators, masks, thermometers, goggles, and personal protective equipment (PPE).

Chinese companies and charity groups like Jack Ma Foundation & Alibaba Foundation have also contributed a huge number of medical equipment and materials to Bangladesh, he said,

Apart from that, he said, the Chinese companies undertaking mega projects persist in working here despite all difficulties and frustrations while tons of rice was given for displaced Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar.

Extending his heartiest greetings to all Muslims including in Bangladesh, the envoy said Ramadan thus stands as a month of training for the believers of Islam on how to lead their lives in other months of the year with peace, compassion, and harmony.

"As a dear member of a proud nation of 56 ethnic groups with different faiths living in harmony, China's vast Muslim community, with a population of 30 million, too has started observing Ramadan," he said.

Referring Chinese President Xi Jinping, the envoy said it is China's firm belief that only with solidarity and cooperation the international community can prevail over the epidemic and protect humanity's common home.

The deadly coronavirus has rapidly covered the globe, spread suffering, disrupted billions of lives and endangered the global economy.