On the morning of March 8 (local time), the team at the Wassit Thermal Power Plant in Iraq donated 40,000 masks for protecting the employees at the power station.

Since the epidemic outbreak earlier this year, Shanghai Electric and the owners at the Wassit plant have worked together to put the risk of imported infection under control. All 150 Chinese employees from the key epidemic areas have ended their isolation and started working. As confirmed cases keep growing in Iraq, the plant will put into force necessary measures to lower the risk of on-site cross-infection.

To recognize the strong support of the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity to the on-site operation, the Wassit project team made a generous response to the request of the owners and timely provided necessary anti-viral supplies for personnel protection. A solid foundation has been built for the next-stage comprehensive epidemic control and treatment at the plant. The Director of Wassit plant Ali Ahmed and security head Colonel Amar attended the handover ceremony. The owners spoke highly of Shanghai Electric for its recent efforts, and expressed gratitude to the group's care and support for the Iraqi employees.

On March 16, a total of 6,000 masks were packed and ready for shipment to Japan. The donation by two Shanghai Electric subsidiaries—Shanghai Electric Machinery Co., Ltd. (Shanghai Electric Machinery) and Shanghai Electric Fuji Electric Power Technology Co., Ltd. (Shanghai Fuji)—was to support Fuji Electric in day-to-day epidemic control and treatment.

In early February when both China and Japan were short of protective masks, Fuji Electric went to great lengths to collect from various channels a batch of masks for its affiliate. The masks have greatly eased up pressure on Shanghai Fuji during its fight against the epidemic.

While the virus is contained in China, the number of cases is rapidly growing across the globe. Japan reported a cumulative total of 835 confirmed cases on March 17. As the pandemic spreads in Japan, Shanghai Electric Machinery and Shanghai Fuji have decided to help Fuji Electric through the trying times by donating masks. Fuji Electric expressed great appreciation and gratitude to Shanghai Electric for care and support.

Both companies said that, "China and Japan are close neighbors facing each other across a narrow strip of water and have a long history of friendly exchanges. Moreover, Shanghai Electric and Fuji Electric have a history of friendly cooperation. When our employees were barred from entry to Jordan due to local control policies during the Spring Festival, Fuji Electric sent help from Japan to support our project commissioning on the site. We are confident that joining hands we can navigate through the crisis."