The Chinese medical expert team poses for a group photo, before departing for Russia, at the Harbin airport in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on Saturday. Photo: CNR

 China sent a medical team, along with donated medical materials, to Russia on Saturday to aid its anti-pandemic battle, a move that was hailed by Russian netizens who said it showed the great friendship between the two countries.

The team consists of 10 experts from hospitals, medical institutes and disease control centers in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, a border province next to Russia. They were welcomed at Vnukovo airport in Moscow, where a large bilingual slogan reads: China and Russia jointly fight against the pandemic, a friend in need is a friend indeed.

A member of the team, Xu Songtao, a virologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Global Times on Sunday that the main purpose of the trip is to exchange information with Russian colleagues in the field of pathogenology monitoring and detection, sharing China's etiology experience and absorbing the advanced practices of Russia.

Experts will share their experience of COVID-19 prevention and treatment and provide instruction and training to the Russian side, the China News Agency reported on Sunday. The team also carried a large batch of medical supplies to Russia, including medical masks, gloves and other protective gear. The one-week trip aims to ease Russia's increasing pressure of fighting against the epidemic, said the report.

China's aid was welcomed and praised in Russia. 

"The medical system in Moscow has been greatly affected by the epidemic, and we are grateful to the Chinese government for providing support to us during such a difficult period," said Sergei Cheryomin, head of the Department for Foreign Economic Activity and International Relations of Moscow City Government, upon the arrival of the Chinese team.

Lydia, a 32-year-old Moscow resident, told the Global Times on Sunday that she was very grateful for China's medical aid to Russia when the country is in need and believed that the arrival of the Chinese medical team would be helpful in Russia's battle. 

"China has made great progress in battling the pandemic and a lot of its experience is worth studying in Russia," she said.

Another Russian resident, who graduated from China's Tsinghua University and now lives in Russia, said she hoped that the epidemic would soon be brought under control through such international cooperation.

Russian netizens also hailed the move, expressing thanks for the old friend's aid. 

"Thank you, China! Let's fight the battle with hands joined together!" read one comment on VK, a popular online social media platform in Russia. 

"This (move) once again shows the long-standing friendship between China and Russia and it is exactly what we need right now in a global fight against the pandemic," another netizen commented. 

Russia reported 2,186 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the total to 15,770, with 130 deaths, data shows.

This is not the first time that China and Russia cooperated to combat the outbreak.

On February 5, Russia sent a delegation of five epidemic prevention experts to China for technical exchanges on epidemic prevention, which was the first foreign expert delegation that China received at that extraordinary time. Russia also provided 23 tons of medical materials to China on February 9. 

The Chinese government provided the first batch of 25.5 tons of anti-epidemic aid to Russia on April 2 as the viral outbreak continued to expand in the country.