Chinese medical experts on Thursday set off to Ethiopia and Burkina Faso to support the African countries' fight against COVID-19, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian.

The two medical teams were established by China's National Health Commission, and the medical experts were dispatched by the health commissions from Sichuan Province and Tianjin Municipality.

They will share experience, provide guidance and technical advice on epidemic prevention with medical and health institutions in the two countries, Zhao said at a regular press conference of the ministry, ahead of the experts' departure. 

China and Africa are good brothers and China has kept in mind the valuable support from Africa when the country was facing a hard period in prevention and control work, said Zhao. 

China is willing to strengthen cooperation with African countries to win against the virus, he added. 

The death toll from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the African continent reached 878 as the number of confirmed cases hit 16,640, according to the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). 

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China will send medical experts to Ethiopia, Burkina Faso

Graphics: How is COVID-19 spreading in Africa?

(Cover photo: Ethiopians have their temperature checked for symptoms of the new coronavirus, at the Zewditu Memorial Hospital in the capital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 18, 2020. /AP)