HANGZHOU (CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - One of China's richest men, Internet guru Jack Ma, co-founder of Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant Alibaba, has donated one million facial masks to Japan.

He said this was in return for the generous help Japan gave China when the country was hit severely by coronavirus 20 days ago.

Various circles in Japan had collected and donated 125,000 protective suits to cities across China, Xinhua reported.

The Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation announced on Monday (March 2) that the masks will be donated to Japan to help alleviate suffering in the epidemic.

"Like the mountain range that stretches before you and me, let's share the same trials and hardships together. We hope everything will get better soon," Mr Ma said through his Weibo account, citing an old Chinese poem.

The masks, weighing 49.4 tonnes, were transported by China Eastern Airlines and arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday.