A total of 50,000 disposable surgical masks are donated from Wuxi's Xinwu district to Toyokawa, Japan, on March 24. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Wuxi's Xinwu district donated 50,000 disposable surgical masks to its sister city Toyokawa, Japan, on March 24 to aid in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.

Toyokawa donated 4,500 masks and other protective medical supplies in early February to Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province, when the Chinese city was hit by the novel coronavirus.

As the fight against the virus becomes a global struggle, Xinwu kept a close eye on the virus outbreak in Toyokawa and has been making arrangements to provide medical supplies.

Takemoto Yukio, mayor of Toyokawa, said protective materials are in short supply in the Japanese city, so the masks from Xinwu can help ease the shortage.

The Chinese Embassy in Japan made a post on its official Twitter account praising the donations as an example of Sino-Japanese friendship. Many netizens praised Xinwu on the Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo.

This is not the first time Wuxi, a city of 6.5 million permanent residents, has provided support to organizations and cities around the world.

On March 16, Wuxi donated 60,000 disposable surgical masks and 1,500 sets of protective suits to its sister cities, including Ginhae and Ulsan in South Korea, and Sagamihara in Japan.

As the host of the 2021 World Taekwondo Championships, Wuxi also donated 100,000 disposable surgical masks to the World Taekwondo Federation on March 17, which was re-gifted to the International Olympic Committee by the federation.