ChinaDaily

Peng Zhiyong ( L ) , head of the department of critical care medicine of Zhongnan Hospital, and Huang Shuli, who is on the mend, bid Chinese Lunar New Year greetings to each other in the ICU ( intensive care unit ) of Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, Jan 24, 2020.

Charitable donations in China to combat the novel coronavirus epidemic have reached more than 10.1 billion yuan ( $1.46 billion ) as of Thursday midnight, the China Charity Alliance said on Friday.

Chinese enterprises have donated more than 2.2 billion yuan by Thursday, with internet giant Alibaba contributing 1 billion yuan, and Baidu and Tencent each donating 300 million yuan to combat the epidemic, it said.

Donations from social charity organizations amounted to 287 million yuan by Thursday, the alliance said.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs has called on more charitable donations to help prevent and contain the epidemic on Jan 26.

The alliance called on charitable organizations to collect goods and raise money according to laws and regulations, strengthen information disclosure and be open to public scrutiny.