BRUSSELS -- Faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese-funded companies in Europe in increasing numbers have made donations to support the people of Europe.

As of Friday, several members of the China Chamber of Commerce to the European Union (CCCEU), among them the Bank of China, COSCO Shipping, ICBC, China Telecom and Geely, have donated more than 250,000 medical-use masks to Europe, according to incomplete statistics released by the Secretariat of the Brussels-based CCCEU.

The CCCEU and the Bank of China (Luxembourg) S.A. donated 20,000 medical-use masks to Italy on March 17, followed by deliveries of 32,000 masks to Greece and 10,000 to Luxembourg this week.

Coordinated by the China Mission to EU, the European Commission, the Permanent Representation of Italy to the EU and the Italian Civil Protection Department, the 20,000 masks are already in Rome and are being distributed to frontline hospitals in the Emilia Romagna region.

In a letter addressed to the CCCEU, Italy's former Prime Minister Romano Prodi described the donation as a sign of friendship and solidarity that "we will never forget. I do hope that the world understands that we are really in the same boat."

"The donation of the masks is just the beginning of the efforts made by the Chamber and its members to fight COVID-19 in Europe. The CCCEU has also set up a taskforce to coordinate resource mobilization and donations to help our European friends," said Zhou Lihong, chairperson of the CCCEU.