ALGIERS — A plane carrying Chinese medical aid arrived on March 27 at the International Airport of Algiers, as part of the Chinese efforts to help combat the spread of the novel coronavirus in Algeria.

The medical supplies worth $450,000 were donated by China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC).

The donation ceremony at the airport was attended by senior Algerian officials, Chinese Ambassador to Algeria Li Lianhe and CSCEC Algeria Manager Zhou Sheng.

"China and Algeria are bound by deep friendship and strategic relations. At a time when Algeria urgently needs medical protection equipment, China has managed to urgently purchase the equipment and donate them to Algeria," Li said.

This first batch of donation contains 500,000 medical surgical masks, 50,000 N95 masks and 2,000 units of medical protective clothing and medical face masks as well as respirators for intensive care, he noted.

"The Chinese government, public and private charity foundations, Chinese companies based both in Algeria and China, and Chinese nationals living in Algeria are all mobilized to contribute to the efforts to fight the spread of COVID-19 in Algeria," the ambassador said.

Meanwhile, Lotfi Benbahmed, Algeria's vice health minister in charge of pharmaceutical industry, hailed the deep and strong relations between Algeria and China reflected in the donation.

"We are very proud of the relations and we are committed to strengthening the relations for the benefit of our peoples," he said.

On March 27, the Algerian health authorities announced 409 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 26 deaths in the North African country.