"If you have enough storage of masks, would you possibly return the masks we donated before?"

That was the plea from Yukio Takemoto, the mayor of Toyokawa, Japan, during an interview earlier this week.

On February 4, when the coronavirus was sweeping across China, Toyokawa donated 4,500 masks to Xinwu District in Wuxi, eastern China's Jiangsu Province, as the two places had been connected as friend cities since April 2009.

According to Takemoto, due to the serious situation, Toyokawa will run out of masks by the end of May due to the pandemic. That's why he wanted the masks back.

Hearing the call from Toyokawa, Xinwu District rapidly prepared 50,000 newly produced masks and sent them back to Toyokawa on March 24.

The line: "Thank you for your help before, and this is our way to say thank you" were written on each box delivered to Japan.

Since the infected number of COVID-19 patients in China is rapidly dropping, many factories have gone back to normal working schedules. China has been donating masks and medical supplies to other regions as a way to say thank you, especially at a time when the pandemic is threatening many other countries.

"This is what we should do. I'm proud of my country," netizens on Weibo, China's Twitter-like platform, said of Xinwu District's quick response, and also expressed gratitude to other countries who generously donated medical supplies to China months before.

"When China was in need, Japan donated. When Japan needs it, China returns with gratitude. It is so good to see the interaction.”

"I'm from Toyokawa, thank you so much. And sorry for the ask…," commented Japanese netizens online. 

Takemoto also replied to Xinwu local officials the next day: "Thank you so much. These masks will be delivered to hospitals and clinics first."

The same scenario was also seen in Austria, which donated 100,000 masks and 2.4 million medical gloves to China on February 22. A month later, two flights from China arrived in Vienna with 130 tons of medical supplies.

"When China was suffering from the pandemic, we received help from many countries and international societies," Luo Zhaohui, deputy minister of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a press conference on Wednesday.

He said China had donated medical supplies to 82 countries and international organizations as of March 20. 

"A drop of water shall be returned with a burst of spring," he said, referencing an old saying in Chinese to express concerns and gratitude to the international society.

Although China is still in the fight against the coronavirus, Luo said it is still willing to offer help to other countries as much as possible.