A donation certificate issued to a Blackpink fanclub by a charity foundation Photo: Power China's Sina Weibo account

Chinese fan clubs of popular stars, including EXO and Blackpink, have been donating funds and medical supplies to Central China's Hubei Province, the area hit hardest by the epidemic. 

Power China, a public charity, has been publishing the latest donations Chinese fans have made in their idol's name on its Sina Weibo account. Chinese fans of Wang Yuan, a member of Chinese boy band TFBoys, have donated over 360,000 yuan ($51,900) to Hubei Province as of Wednesday. 

An administrative member of a major Chinese fan club for South Korean band EXO's Kim Jong-dae, whose stage name is Chen, told the Global Times that they also chose to cooperate with Power China because charitable organizations have more accurate information of what medical goods are needed the most in Hubei and can respond swiftly in distributing the goods to hospitals within the region.

Individual Chinese fan clubs are not only making donations but are also combining efforts between clubs dedicated to various popular stars to donate through charity platforms. On Friday, 100 fan clubs donated 143,100 pairs of latex gloves to a hospital in Wuhan. 

There are also fan clubs that have organized donations themselves. According to an administrator from LisaBar, a major Chinese fan club for South Korean girl band Blackpink's Lisa, they have contacted local hospitals in Hubei Province directly and purchased medical products on their own.  

"When we are together, we are a mass of fire; When we leave each other, we are shining stars scattered in the sky," is a slogan Chinese fans have adopted to describe their donations. Fire represents the warmth they hope to bring medical staff working on the frontlines of the battle and "the shining stars in the sky" symbolize the sincerity of fans.

A Chinese fan club for Chen said they drew on funds accumulated through previous sales of Chen merchandise. LisaBar made their first two donations with money donated by the fan club's administrators so they wouldn't have to wait for donations to come in. 

 "We have been focusing on helping disadvantaged children and environmental protection over the past few years. This time is different from before because we don't have much time to respond and prepare, which poses a big challenge for us," a Chen fan club administrator said.

After analyzing the difficulties they were facing, the fan club decided to donate money to charitable organizations for the large-scale purchase of medical supplies and make direct donations to selected hospitals later.

The Hubei Charity Federation had raised more than 1.7 billion yuan to combat the novel coronavirus as of Thursday morning. On Wednesday, the Hubei Charity Federation distributed 408 million yuan to charity organizations in Hubei Province to support the fight against the epidemic.