Image: Visual China

BEIJING, January 4, 2022 (TMTPOST) — Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and its fintech arm Ant Group donated 20 million yuan on January 1 to Xi’an in support of the city’s battle against new waves of Covid-19 resurgence. The donated fund will be allocated for use by the local government in Xi’an.

Northwest China’s Xi'an city, home to the terracotta warriors, has entered a critical stage in fighting off the Covid-19 resurgence in the city, China’s National Health Commission said.

As of January 4, 2022, a total number of 1,785 cases have been confirmed in Shaanxi Province, with 1,758 cases being detected in Xi’an. This new round of coronavirus outbreak is the largest community outbreak since Covid-19 hit Wuhan.

A series of strict pandemic measures have been imposed city-wide in Xi’an in accordance with the country’s “dynamic zero-covid policy”. Businesses have suspended operation and the city’s residents are undergoing pandemic lockdown at their homes.

Alibaba Group and Ant Group announced on January 1 that Alibaba Foundation and Alipay Foundation would each donate 10 million yuan to Xi’an through the Red Cross Society of China Xi’an to support the city’s efforts in fighting the pandemic.

Alibaba Group’s lifestyle and fresh produce service units such as Taocaicai, Fresh Hema and Eleme have responded to the city’s call for help as well. Taocaicai, a fresh produce retailing brand, has allocated over 4,200 tons of vegetable and meat, 300,000 facial masks and disinfectant products to Xi’an. Fresh Hema’s outlets in the city are helping to supply daily necessities to more than 300 residential areas in the city. Alibaba’s healthcare app Yilu and Alibaba’s pharmacy outlets now provide 24-hour medical consulting requests from residents in Xi’an for free.

Several other Chinese tech companies have also mobilized their resources to help Xi’an. Tencent, NetEase and Xiaomi have made donations to Xi’an.