The Chinese charity alliance has registered over 10 billion yuan ($ 1.46 billion) of voluntary donations to combat pneumonia caused by the 2019-nCoV virus, TASS reported.

According to him, 22% of this amount was provided by Chinese companies and local business representatives. Particular contributions have been made by corporations such as Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent.

As specified in the alliance, all charitable funds come subject to local legislation on an absolutely transparent basis.

There is a powerful outbreak of a new coronavirus, which, according to official statistics, infected over 11.7 thousand people, killing 259 residents in China. Over 18 thousand citizens of the country with suspected pneumonia are under the supervision of doctors. Experts expect a peak in the spread of the virus by mid-February.

On December 31, 2019, China notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of unknown type of pneumonia in Wuhan, a large commercial and industrial center with a population of more than 11 million people. On January 7, it was possible to establish the causative agent of the disease - coronavirus 2019-nCoV, which is also detected in 23 more countries, including Russia. WHO has recognized the outbreak of pneumonia in China as an international emergency.