Europe Epicenter of the pandemic

The corona pandemic started somewhere. Meanwhile, the number of new infections in China and South Korea has decreased, while the WHO has now declared Europe to be the epicenter of the pandemic. Since many European countries have reacted to the danger only late, aid is now flowing from China to Europe: The Alibaba Foundation and the Jack Ma Foundation donate over two million masks and other medical aids, such as Test kits to support Europe’s fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus.

A cargo plane, loaded with the first load of donated supplies, had taken off from Hangzhou Airport in China and arrived at Liège Airport in Belgium in the evening of March 13th. On board were half a million masks to be sent to Italy. Further deliveries are due in the next few days.

Belgium, the European partner of Alibaba’s Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP), is playing an important role in this relief effort. The logistics center at Liège Airport enables the donated medical goods to be distributed efficiently to Europe. Since 2018, the Alibaba Group and the Belgian government have been working closely together on a number of initiatives to promote trade, tourism, education and technology as part of the first eWTP hub in Europe.