Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania Al Abdullah, in a phone call, expressed appreciation to Chinese philanthropist and businessman Jack Ma for donating medical supplies and equipment to support Jordan’s healthcare sector and the country’s efforts to combat coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The support package, which comes through the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation, includes 100,000 virus detection kits, 30 BiPAP machines, 300,000 medical facemasks, 50 infrared thermometer guns, and 10,000 sets of protective clothing for the use of medical personnel.

The medical supplies, particularly the detection kits, are of great value to Jordan, as extensive testing for the virus worldwide has proven to be an effective strategy to confront COVID-19, and is in line with World Health Organisation guidelines.

For his part, Ma expressed hope that Jordan will overcome the crisis caused by COVID-19, stressing the importance of international medical and humanitarian cooperation to galvanise and step up efforts towards preventing the spread of the pandemic, both within nations and across borders.

In May 2018, Ma travelled to Jordan, where he visited the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development and had the opportunity to learn more about its digital learning platform, Edraak. During his visit, Ma announced a $3 million grant towards education in Jordan.

Later that year, Her Majesty participated in the XIN Philanthropy Conference, which was hosted by Ma and the Alibaba Foundation, in Hangzhou, China.