Lleida, Spain, recently received 189 boxes of personal protective equipment donated by Hefei, its sister city in Anhui province, Catalan News reported.

The shipment arrived in the city in western Catalonia on military trucks on May 3. It included thousands of medical masks, disposable gloves and medical gowns. Transportation was supervised by Miquel Pueyo, the city's mayor, and Jose Crespin, subdelegate from the Spanish government.

In a video sent from Lleida, the mayor thanked Hefei for the humanitarian help and expressed hope of expanding future contacts and cooperation between the two cities.

Pueyo said the equipment is the most important donation the city has received during the pandemic so far and that Lleida has learned valuable lessons from China about fighting COVID-19.

Hefei had sent the equipment to Shanghai in early April, including 100,000 medical masks, 2,000 protective suits, 2,000 isolation gowns and 2,000 pairs of disposable gloves, according to the Hefei foreign affairs office.

Hefei and Lleida became sister cities in 1998.