Jilin University receives 20 million yuan for virus fight

Livon Group -- a major real estate development group based in Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin province -- donated more than 20 million yuan ($2.88 million) to Jilin University on March 9, to support the university's epidemic prevention and control work.

A Livon spokesman said that the donations included nearly 120,000 yuan from its staff members.

Jilin University officials said that the money will be used to buy medical materials, on medicines research and development, medical experiments, subsidies for medical workers and in other areas.

In response to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia, the medical department of Jilin University has sent more than 540 medical workers to assist Wuhan city in Central China's Hubei province, the epicenter of the epidemic.

They account for half of Jilin's medical workers assisting in Wuhan, according to university officials.

Following nearly two decades of development, Livon Group has developed into a group engaged in four main business areas -- real estate development, science, education and culture, commercial operations and energy investment.

The group and Jilin University have worked together in science and education for years, and a broader partnership is expected between two sides, officials said at the donation ceremony.