Business Communities in US Help Fight COVID-19 Outbreak

On the morning of February 24, boxes of medical masks, isolation suits and goggles were shipped from the offices of the China General Chamber of Commerce – USA (CGCC) in Manhattan to hospitals in Central China’s Wuhan, the city hardest hit in the COVID-19 outbreak.

This is the fourth batch of medical supplies collected by CGCC and CGCC Foundation to help short-supplied hospitals in Wuhan since the outbreak began in early January.

The CGCC and CGCC Foundation have seen an outpouring of support from member organizations and individuals since launching their medical supply donation campaign for hospitals in Wuhan on January 23. 

As of February 24, with the help of more than 40 Chinese enterprises in the US, including China Construction America, Bank of China USA, China Construction Bank and China Investment Corporation, the CGCC had raised US$141,597.87 and collected more than 50,000 pieces of medical protective equipment. 

Donated medical supplies were delivered to six hospitals in Wuhan, including China Resources & WISCO General Hospital, Wuhan No.1 Hospital and Tianyou Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science & Technology via SF Express, China Southern Airlines and Air China.

Alongside Chinese companies in the US, many senior executives, managers and employees of American companies have also lent a helping hand. “Some of them have been very active in introducing us to sources of medical equipment, and some have donated money, even medical equipment,” Xu Chen, Chairman of CGCC and President and CEO of Bank of China USA, said at a recent news conference for the campaign in Manhattan.

Besides donating medical supplies to fight the outbreak in China, Chinese companies in the US have also taken measures to control the spread of the virus in the US. “Take CGCC as an example,” Xu said. “We have made our own prevention and control measures, have employees traveling back from China take a 14-day quarantine, increased the frequency of disinfection, publicity and training on epidemic prevention. We have also reduced the number of meetings, small and large, internal and external.”

Although such measures have had a negative impact on CGCC’s day-to-day operations and management, Xu Chen expressed that it is all worth it because it would help prevent the virus from spreading in the US. 

He also pointed out that the US has a lot of experience in public health and dealing with epidemics. Chinese companies here can learn from the guidance of US public health regulators.

Despite the negative impact of the outbreak on business and trade between China and the US, Xu Chen said, through the successful donation campaign for Wuhan hospitals, he saw the need and possibilities for the two countries to work together on many global issues such as climate change and infectious diseases.

“I hope after this outbreak, we can treat bilateral economic and trade relations more calmly, which may turn bad things into good things.” Xu Chen said, “I look forward to further development of China-US relations and the economic and trade relations between the two countries in the wake of this outbreak.”