A banner featuring the national flags of Iran and China with "Stay strong, Iran" written in Iranian and Chinese is sent to the Consulate General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Shanghai, along with some medicine, on March 7. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

Jinghua Pharmaceutical Group Co, a leading pharmaceutical company in Nantong, donated 300,000 pills of chloroquine phosphate and 24,000 doses of Wangshi Baochiwan to the Consulate General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Shanghai on March 7.

The move was in response to Iran's call for drug assistance passed on by the Silk Road Cities Alliance on March 6.

Chloroquine phosphate, an established market drug that has been used to treat malaria for more than seven decades, has recently moved from the trial stage to the clinical treatment stage for COVID-19 in China. Wangshi Baochiwan, a Chinese drug patent, is a signature product of Jinghua and has proved effective in improving gastrointestinal function in COVID-19 patients.

Each box of medicine featured part of an Iranian poem reading "Human beings are member of whole, In creation of one essence and soul. Is one member afflicted by pain, Other members uneasy will remain."

Yin Hongyu, chairman of the company, sent the supplies to the Iranian consulate general in person on behalf of Jinhua.

Iranian officials thanked the company and said the medicine would be sent to hospitals throughout Iran within a week.

According to statistics released by the World Health Organization (WHO), 101 countries and regions had reported confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of the morning of March 8. A total of 6,566 confirmed cases were reported in Iran.