JD.com's Founder Richard Liu Donates Medical Supplies to the NHS Amid Coronavirus

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Apr 10, 2020, 15:23 ET

BEIJING, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Richard Liu, founder of China's largest retailer JD.com, and his wife, Nancy Zhang, have donated millions of items of medical equipment to the UK's National Health Service, who are fighting COVID-19 with limited resources. The donation, includes 50 ventilators, 5 million medical masks, 600,000 surgical gloves, medical safety goggles and protective gowns.

Following the outbreak of COVID-19, JD.com has been a key player in the global fight against the pandemic, allocating more than RMB 1.5 billion in resources to ensure the livelihood of Chinese consumers and support the country's economy; while JD Health now provides free online services around the world for medical and psychological consultations. Liu's donation this week aids one of JD's key markets as the British government faces enormous pressure regarding the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) available to frontline NHS staff.

Responsibility for distributing Liu's donated supplies to local hospitals throughout the country falls to several UK organizations, including The Chinese Embassy in the UK, China Charity Federation, Overseas Chinese Charity Foundation of China, UK Chinese Business Association and London Chinese Community Centre. Chinese citizens residing in the UK and students studying abroad can reserve masks free of charge over the weekend – from 10:00am on Friday, April 10, through midnight on Sunday, April 12 (GMT) – through the JD app or at https://global.jd.com/.

Liu says the decision to prioritize Chinese nationals is in direct response to the generosity extended to China from UK's Chinese residents two months ago amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan. Chinese nationals who reside in the UK donated a significant number of masks, disinfectants and medical supplies through JD Logistics, and Richard Liu and wife Nancy Zhang's latest relief efforts wish to return the favor. While Chinese residents will have early, free access to supplies, Liu's donation will extend beyond this group and provide much needed relief to the broader community.

In the early part of the year, many Chinese enterprises responded to the nation's call to produce medical supplies, helping China meet domestic demand; and most of the materials in Liu's donation come from this production. JD is now leveraging its industry-leading integrated smart supply chain and logistics business to purchase and deploy relief materials to meet needs abroad.

About JD.com

JD.com is a leading technology driven e-commerce company transforming to become the leading supply chain based technology and service provider. The company's cutting-edge retail infrastructure seeks to enable consumers to buy whatever they want, whenever and wherever they want it. The company has opened its technology and infrastructure to partners, brands and other sectors, as part of its Retail as a Service offering to help drive productivity and innovation across a range of industries. JD.com is the largest retailer in China, a member of the NASDAQ100 and a Fortune Global 500 company.

SOURCE JD.com