XI'AN - An all-cargo charter plane carrying over 20 tonnes of medical supplies collected from across China took off on Monday from the Xianyang International Airport in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, for Leipzig, Germany.

This was the first of 14 cargo charter flights to transport a total of 300 tonnes of Chinese medical materials to Germany, where they will be dispatched to other places in Europe to aid European countries' fight against the COVID-19 outbreak.

The charter flight operated by Russian Atran Airlines was also the first cargo flight to Europe from the airport in Xi'an since the outbound flights had been suspended due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus in China.

The first batch of medical supplies includes 2.08 million pairs of medical gloves and 30,870 protective clothes. The ensuing flights will send medical supplies of face masks, protective clothing and ventilators to Europe. China has coordinated airports, customs, freight forwarders and airlines for swift delivery of the medical supplies to Europe.