An Italian mayor recently thanked Ningbo for its medical donations to the city in a speech to the public.

Filippo Roberto Bonansinga, mayor of Merì city in the Sicily region also expressed confidence in beating the pandemic with help from China and a desire to strengthen bilateral relations.

Italy remains the worst hit country in Europe as the pandemic rages across the world. The country reported cases of 105,792 infections, including 12,428 fatalities, as of April 2. 

The first batch of medical supplies, including face masks, protective clothing, and thermometers donated by the chamber of commerce of China-Italy (Ningbo) Ecological Park arrived in Milan two weeks ago to aid local epidemic control and prevention efforts. 

On March 30, the chamber sent another batch of face masks to Merì, after the local government asked for help in alleviating the shortage of face masks in hospitals. 

As of March 31, the chamber had donated more than 500,000 yuan ($72,463.7) worth of epidemic prevention supplies to several regional governments, chambers of commerce and enterprises in Italy.

In addition to Merì, a number of Italian companies, including JoinPad and Impersive, also expressed gratitude to Ningbo.

China-Italy (Ningbo) Ecological Park, situated in Binhai new city in Yuyao, a county-level city of Ningbo, is the only national level international cooperation ecological park in Zhejiang province.

The park, with a total planned area of 40 square kilometers, was officially established on Oct 15, 2014, when Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited the park site.