Central China's Wuhan City, the hardest-hit city in the country by the coronavirus, has now turned into a source of inspiration for those looking to give something back to society.

"I want to salute all volunteers in and coming to Wuhan," said Zhang Boli, an academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, who fought COVID-19 in Wuhan. "What they did was quite inspiring."

The leading Traditional Chinese Medicine expert, also a national People's Hero nominee, noted they are an important and touching group when he shared his experience at what as once a temporary hospitals set up to fight the virus.

More than 42,000 medical personnel from across the country went to the hard-hit region since the outbreak began in late January. Many of them risked their lives and joined the rescue effort in more than 20 local temporary hospitals.

And that has become one of the most inspiring elements of this year's Charity Day, which falls on September 5.

The philanthropic event, which began in 2016, comes as China looks to eliminate extreme poverty by the end of the year. But Zhang warns certain illnesses could make the goal even more challenging to achieve.

"We must pay close attention to the poverty issue caused by illness," he stressed. "I hope our society can be more mobilized to help the poor in rural, border or even urban areas, and also the minority groups."

To meet the risk of people falling back into poverty, China plans to build a tiered social welfare system in about two years, a move experts refer to the "continuous effort" led by the government, even if poverty is gone.

"Many private enterprises have joined in on the efforts to reduce poverty these past years, which is very meaningful," said Hu Guanghua, secretary-general of China Social Assistance Foundation, citing the "99 Giving Day" as one good example.

Initiated by China's internet giant Tencent, the annual three-day charity campaign in September is intended to connect and build trust and love with people through technology.

"I call it a 'finger-tipping' charity, as everyone is able to participate and also supervise the whole process," Zhang went on.

Measures have been created on Tencent's various online platforms to match donations made by the public. That's proving to be especially crucial in public emergencies.

By the end of June, more than 12 million internet users donated up to 600 million yuan, or almost 90 million U.S. dollars, for COVID-19 relief on our platforms, according to Edward Cheng, vice president of the tech group. "By late August, more than three-hundred-thousand users made donations for flood relief."

More internet companies and retail stores are taking part in this year's Giving Day, under the slogan: "Together We Can."

"It's so delightful to see that private charity can be expanded through offline tea shops and many online service platforms," said Ge Yan, secretary-general of Tencent Foundation. "Our WeChat users will see various programs, including thousands of charity live-streams that have never been seen before."

This year's 99 Giving Day is from September 7 through 9.