Chinese company donates 250,000 face masks to Chicago city

CHICAGO -- A Chinese company on Thursday donated 250,000 face masks and 30,000 face shields to the central US city of Chicago to assist its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The City of Chicago hosted a brief ceremony at the downtown United Center to receive the donated anti-coronavirus supplies.

Attending the ceremony were Deputy Mayor Samir Mayekar and Ni Pin, president of the donor company Wanxiang America Corporation, a Chicago-based US branch of the Wangxiang Group, a Chinese automotive components manufacturer.

"We face big challenges today," Mayekar told Xinhua. "Our great corporate partners step up saying we will help you at the time you most need, so they got hundreds of thousands of PPEs (personal protective equipment) ... it's something the City will never forget."

In her thank-you letter addressed to Ni and his company days ago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the donation not only "supports the countless Chicagoans working day and night to fight this disease, but you are helping to lay the foundation for our strong recovery,"

"We are truly all in this together," she added.

Learning that face masks and shields are in great need of Chicago, "we decided to give all PPEs from China," Ni told Xinhua. "We have a lot of investment in Chicago, so this is for ourselves."

Wanxiang Group is donating 1.1 million face masks and 50,000 face shields to 12 US states, including Illinois.