Bulk supplies of vital medical items were shipped from Sydney to China at the request of a Beijing-backed property giant as the coronavirus pandemic took hold in Australia.
Greenland Group, which manages property developments across the globe with the support of the Chinese government, told employees at its Sydney office to stop their normal work in January.
Instead, they were tasked with sourcing face masks, hand sanitisers, thermometers and other medical items, storing them at their office and shipping them to China.
A whistleblower told The Sydney Morning Herald the exercise was a worldwide effort and continued until the end of February.
Bulk supplies of vital medical items were shipped from Sydney to China at the request of a Beijing-backed property giant
‘Basically all employees, the majority of whom are Chinese, were asked to source whatever medical supplies they could,’ the insider said.
‘There were numerous requests from the HR manager and even our direct reporting line [which] prioritised the assisting of the company in gathering these supplies over other work activities.’
Greenland Group told Chinese language media in Australia the company collected three million protective masks, 700,000 hazmat suits and 500,000 pairs of medical gloves during the global effort.
It is unclear how many of those were sourced in Australia.
Greenland Group confirmed the shipments from Sydney to China in a statement to Daily Mail Australia, saying it ‘felt compelled’ to assist ‘in efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus, which had caused a shortage of critical medical supplies in China’.
The supplies were ‘dispatched to China, which at that time was the epicentre of the outbreak’, the statement read.
‘As such, Greenland Group initiated a drive for medical supplies, and provided accommodation services for front-line medical staff in China via the company’s hotel group.
‘Greenland Australia supported Greenland Group’s initiative by arranging for medical supplies to be dispatched to China. Again, it should be noted that this proactive response occurred in late January and early February, at a time when the worldwide spread of the virus, and all response efforts, were focused on China.’
Photos show pallet-loads of medical items stored in company-stamped boxes at Greenland’s Sydney offices and at various airports.
Sherwood Lou, Greenland Australia’s managing director, shared photos of the supplies on February 13.
He wrote at the time: ‘The second batch of non-contact forehead thermometers will soon take off to China! Coronavirus situation is serious, Chinese people, local and overseas, are trying their best, fighting together to combat the virus.’
Greenland Group told Chinese language media in Australia the company collected three million protective masks, 700,000 hazmat suits and 500,000 pairs of medical gloves during the global effort
The company has sold a billion dollars worth of property in Sydney and Melbourne since its 2013 arrival to Australia.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government is scrambling to produce enough medical supplies as confirmed local coronavirus cases surge to more than 2,400 – and doubling about every three days.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said a ‘war production unit’ had been convened at the weekend to prepare Australia.
The Federal Government is scrambling to produce enough medical supplies as confirmed local coronavirus cases surge to more than 2,400. Pictured: Two young women in face masks walk along Circular Quay in Sydney on Wednesday
‘We have four companies that have indicated that they are willing to make ventilators and will be seeking approvals which have been given at light speed,’ he told Nine News on Monday.
‘At the same time, we are working on imports and procurements, large volumes of masks have arrived over the course of the weekend, additional volumes of testing kits.’
Australia has only one face mask factory in operation, The Med-Con in Shepparton, a regional area of northern Victoria.
It is facing an unprecedented demand to make face masks and hospital gowns during the crisis.