Medical supplies donated by Chinese companies and organizations will arrive in Italy's Lombardy and Piemonte by chartered planes this weekend, as the novel coronavirus outbreak has been hitting these regions hard, foundations who launched the campaign said on Friday.

About 590,000 pieces of supplies including protective suits, masks and gloves along with 2.2 million yuan ($310,000) were donated by companies and foundations, including tech giant Tencent, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Lao Niu Foundation.

Luca Ferrari, Italian ambassador to China, expressed appreciation to the organizers, including the China Development Research Foundation and China Global Philanthropy Institute, at the donation ceremony in Beijing on Friday.

"A friend in need is a friend indeed. When the outbreak hit Wuhan and the rest of China, Italy sent aid to the Chinese people. Now the support China is providing my country is a concrete sign of the deep friendship between us," he said, adding the strong bond that unites the two nations will help win the battle against the disease.