Spain looks to China for help in fighting virus

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez spoke Tuesday with China's President Xi Jinping to ask for medical supplies to help fight the coronavirus epidemic which has infected more than 11,000 people in Spain.

Speaking to reporters, Sanchez confirmed the matter had come up during a phone conversation with the Chinese leader, which came just days after the Spanish government ordered an unprecedented national lockdown in order to halt the spread of the virus.

On Tuesday, a plane from Shanghai landed in the northern Spanish city of Zaragoza carrying 500,000 masks donated by the e-commerce giant Alibaba.

According to a statement, the delivery was part of a donation of two million masks and coronavirus test kits from Alibaba's Chinese billionaire owner Jack Ma.

China has taken the lead in combating in the virus which emerged in the Wuhan region late last year.

Last week, Beijing sent experts and medical equipment to Italy, the second worst-hit country after China, where the virus has killed more than 2,100 people and resulted in nearly 28,000 infections.

Spain currently ranks fourth in the world, with 11,178 people infected and 491 deaths, according to official figures published on Tuesday.

© 2020 AFP