Jack Ma to donate millions of masks and test kits to the World Health Organisation

Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma announced on Tuesday that he is donating millions of masks and test kits to the World Health Organisation (WHO) amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Ma said in a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo, that he and Alibaba will be donating 100 million clinical masks, 1 million N-95 masks, and 1 million test kits to the WHO.

“One world, one fight,” Ma’s post read.

https://www.weibo.com/2145291155/IEk2npeGz?from=page_1003062145291155_profile&wvr=6&mod=weibotime&type=comment

This is not the first coronavirus aid supplied by Ma and Alibaba.

In January, Alibaba announced it would set up a 1 billion yuan ($141 million) fund to purchase medical supplies for Wuhan and Hubei province, the Chinese epicentre of the outbreak.

Days later, Ma himself donated 100 million yuan ($14.1 million) to help develop a coronavirus vaccine.

On March 2, he announced on Weibo that he had donated 1 million masks to Japan.

On March 6, Ma made another announcement on Weibo that he was working to ship 1 million masks to Iran.

He later on March 11 posted that 1.8 million masks and 100,000 testing kits would head to Europe, with the first batch arriving in Belgium, with more plans to donate to Italy and Spain.

On March 14, Ma announced that he would donate half a million testing kits and 1 million face masks to the United States.

On March 21, leaders in Ethiopia and Rwanda announced that they had received the first batch of coronavirus test kits and prevention materials donated by Ma to 54 African countries.

Ma is one of the richest people in China, with a fortune of nearly $40 billion. After two decades building Alibaba into a $460 billion e-commerce business, the Chinese tycoon retired from the role of executive chairman and pivoted full-time to philanthropy.

Later, he started the Jack Ma Foundation in 2014, as he cited the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as an inspiration for his charitable endeavors.