New Delhi, March 16 Alibaba Founder and billionaire Jack Ma on Monday joined Twitter, sending out his tweet that the first shipment of 1 million masks and 500,000 coronavirus testing kits are on way to US.
"The first shipment of masks and coronavirus test kits to the US is taking off from Shanghai. All the best to our friends in America," Ma tweeted.
Within no time, he had garnered 88.3K followers.
He later retweeted a tweet from hi foundation, saying "Through a donation of 500,000 testing kits and 1 million masks, we join hands with Americans in these difficult times".
"Drawing from my own country's experience, speedy and accurate testing and adequate personal protective equipment for medical professions are most effective in preventing the spread of the virus. We hope that our donation can help Americans fight against the pandemic!" the foundation had said.
The Jack Ma Foundation in January announced it will donate 100 million yuan (14.4 million US dollars) to support research and development of a novel coronavirus vaccine.
"We firmly know that while scientists are racing against the clock, it won't be an easy task from the vaccine research to the final large-scale production and use," said Ma.
Ma said the foundation would strive to provide more help for the development and accumulation of medical science in the fight against viruses.
Alibaba Group said it would provide public research institutions free access to all AI capabilities needed for the development of vaccines and new drugs for the novel coronavirus.
( With inputs from IANS )