The first batch of anti-pandemic materials donated by the Red Cross Society of China to Nepal began to be shipped to its capital Kathmandu on Wednesday morning, in an effort to boost the country's fight against the rapid spread of COVID-19 infections in recent days, the society said on Wednesday.

The batch consists of 5,000 protective suits, 100 oxygen concentrators, 100,000 N95 masks and 2.58 million surgical masks in total. They will be shipped from Kunming, provincial capital of Yunnan in Southwest China, to Kathmandu in different shipments, according to a statement released by the society.

These medical materials were gifted to the Nepal Red Cross Society, the statement added.