China Railway Construction Corporation held a farewell ceremony on April 7 for a 15-member medical team to be sent to Abuja, Nigeria on April 8 to aid its battle against COVID-19. Photo: Huanqiu.com

China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), a state-owned enterprise, will send a 15-member medical team, along with medical supplies, to Abuja, Nigeria on Wednesday to aid its battle against COVID-19, a move that experts say contributes to China's ongoing efforts to help the world in combating the virus.

As a core market of CRCC, Nigeria has more than 140 projects under construction with over 1,600 Chinese employees and 12,000 local employees in the country, the Global Times learned from CRCC.

There were 238 COVID-19 cases in Nigeria as of Tuesday, of which 48 were in the capital city Abuja. The country imposed a two-week lockdown in several states on March 30 as part of efforts to slow the spread of the pandemic.

CRCC's 30-day aid trip aims to ensure the safety and health of its employees amid the outbreak and to ease pressure on the Nigerian government by providing medical help and sharing prevention experiences with health workers there per the government's request, according to CRCC.

The medical team consists of 12 medical workers from infectious diseases, laboratory, respiratory, critical care department and others. Some of them are experienced in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the novel coronavirus disease.

The team will also take pandemic-prevention materials to Nigeria, including protective gear, essential medicines, testing kits, ventilators, oxygen generators and other core medical equipment.

CRCC's aid is part of China's ongoing efforts to help other countries fight the disease, Liu Haifang, executive director of the Beijing-based Center for African Studies and associate professor at the School of International Studies of Peking University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

"China has sent out state medical teams to aid many countries. Now CRCC, as an enterprise, is sharing in the responsibility by assisting Nigeria, which also indicates a novel mode of cooperation between China and Nigeria in the health field," said Liu.

"The cooperation between CRCC, and the Nigerian government, is relatively easier and faster than that between the two sides' governments at the state level," Liu said, noting that this new mode is very important in the current pandemic prevention and control work in Nigeria.