Medical supplies supported by expats arrive in Yantai, Shandong province.[Photo by Zhang Qi/chinanews.com]

A group of more than 300 expats who work in Yantai Economic and Development Zone are lending a hand to gather badly needed medical supplies amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, which officials said was providing a strong backup for Yantai, located in the eastern coastal province of Shandong.

Yantai Economic and Development Zone is an area home to nearly 700 foreign-investment companies and many of them have made great efforts in helping fight the epidemic.

South Korea's top machinery company Doosan Infracore, for one, has coordinated with its headquarters to allocate excavator accessories to support the construction of Leishenshan Hospital and Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan – the outbreak first reported.

Many foreign companies in the zone have also contacted their headquarters to purchase medical materials and help the city fight against novel coronavirus, officials said.