Nantong Guoan Fishery Co, based in Qidong, Nantong, Jiangsu province, cooperated with a South Korean enterprise to donate 10,000 surgical masks worth 150,000 yuan ($21,455) to hospitals in Qidong as part of the fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak. 

Hearing about the shortage of medical supplies at local hospitals, Xu Hongying, the secretary of the Party branch of the Qidong-based company, was determined to help with epidemic control. 

The company, a leader in the region, focuses on aquatic products and has developed cooperative relations with enterprises in South Korea and Japan. 

The South Korean enterprise is one of the company's cooperative partners and helped purchase the surgical masks as soon as it received Xu's request Jan 29. The masks were quickly delivered to Shanghai with the help of Korean Air. 

Donated materials can be exempted from tariffs, but it would take time to deal with relevant procedures. To save time, Xu chose to pay the tax and promptly sent the masks to medical workers at local hospitals. 

Hua Weixun, vice-president of Qidong No 2 People's Hospital, praised the company for its timely help as hospitals in the area are short of protective articles, such as surgical masks.