Overseas Chinese communities in Britain have been donating money and medical supplies to help with the fight against the outbreak of novel coronavirus in China.

"As long as China is in trouble, they are always willing to share with the motherland," said Liu Xiaoming, China's ambassador to the United Kingdom, at a donation ceremony held at the Chinese embassy in London on Friday.

More than 20 representatives of local Chinese communities including the London Chinatown Chinese Association and the Chinese Students and Scholars Association in the UK attended the ceremony and made a donation of nearly 500,000 pounds (about $ 660,000).

Liu Xiaoming expressed his sincere gratitude to overseas Chinese communities, including scholars and students in the UK for their generosity and dedication to supporting the people of the motherland to fight the epidemic.

Since the outbreak, Chinese people in Britain have followed the progress of the epidemic's prevention and control. After learning about the shortage of medical supplies in Wuhan, where the outbreak is most severe, they raised funds and bought critical supplies, and mailed them to China.

Customs authorities across China have speeded up clearance processes for medical supplies from abroad. From Jan 24 up to Jan 29, more than 10,000 parcels of safety materials were cleared, according to the customs office in Guangzhou, one of the largest customs authorities in southern China.

"Support from all directions went to whichever place was in trouble," Liu said. With the Chinese government's solid resolve and timely and effective measures, China will control and finally prevail over the epidemic, Liu noted.

Wuhan, where the outbreak was first discovered, is a city in central China with a population of about 11 million. It has been on lockdown since Jan 23. Other major cities in China have banned public gatherings and reduced transportation to varying degrees.

"In many ways, China is actually setting a new standard for outbreak response. It's not an exaggeration," Director-General of the United Nations' World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday.