Remember China's "mask diplomacy" in the first half of 2020 and the issue of how much China actually donated vs. sold? China's official Customs statistics now shed some light on this http://english.customs.gov.cn/Statics/fea8cb6f-317f-4774-aa8f-adc59572b719.html (THREAD)

2. In Jan-October 2020, China's TOTAL "Free assistance and materials donations between countries/international organizations" amounted to 519,6 million USD. That was 14,2 % LESS than in 2019! 2/5

3. Because China custom categories are a bit obscure, it could be that actual masks and PPE donations are in another category: "Other donated materials". This was 350,8 million USD in 2020 - a huge increase from 2019. 3/5

4. But if that's the case, we are faced with another fact: IMPORTS by China of "Other donated materials" in Jan-Oct 2020, at 390,4 million USD were actually HIGHER than the corresponding exports! China would have received more medical aid in 2020 than it gave... 4/5

5. The world of Chinese statistics is often a mystery, so we would love to be corrected by new figures or with another interpretation. But as it is, Chinese aid during COVID seems minuscule compared to export sales of the same equipments. END