BEIJING — China exported 224.2 billion masks between March and the end of December in 2020 to assist the international community in fighting COVID-19, official data showed on Jan 14.

Among the exported masks, a total of 65 billion are for medical use, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

The country has exported 773 million medical protective suits and 2.92 billion pairs of surgical gloves during the same period to protect disease control personnel in the global fight against COVID-19.

China also exported 1.08 billion nucleic acid testing kits to provide support for COVID-19 test work worldwide and 271,000 ventilators in 2020.

"We have capitalized on our position as the first country to take the lead in work resumption and the largest supplier of anti-epidemic materials," said GAC spokesperson Li Kuiwen.