PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The second batch of medical supplies from the Chinese government to Malaysia was handed over to the Malaysian government on Friday as a joint effort between the two countries to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.

Receiving the medical supplies, Malaysia's Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by China, including the assistance from the government and companies, to fight the COVID-19.

"On behalf of Malaysian government, we would like to express our sincere appreciation for the assistance extended to us for the fight against COVID-19 thus far. Your contribution is well received," he said during the handover ceremony.

"History has told us that we have good relationship and we will continue to build an even stronger relationship," he said, adding that he hopes the two countries will continue to strengthen cooperation on addressing the pandemic, as well as explore further collaboration on issues related to disaster management.

For his part, Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Bai Tian said the second batch of medical supplies represents China's goodwill and support for Malaysia to achieve an early victory against COVID-19. "China and Malaysia will work together, fight together and emerge victorious together," he added.

Bai also noted that China is willing to increase policy coordination with Malaysia, strengthen cooperation under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, guarantee open and safe industrial and supply chains and facilitate economic and people-to-people exchanges in a joint effort to boost economy.

The second batch of supplies include 1.3 million surgical face masks, 150,000 laboratory testing kits, 70,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) and 70,000 N95 face masks, said Bai.

The first batch of medical supplies contributed by the Chinese government arrived in Malaysia in late March. An eight-member Chinese medical expert consultant team visited Malaysia for two weeks from April to May to share Chinese experiences against the pandemic.■