Posted on March 27, 2020

Chinese Company Shipped Out Millions of Australia’s Masks, Hand Sanitiser, Glove Supplies

Candace Sutton, News.com.au, March 26, 2020

A Chinese government-backed property giant has secretly raided in bulk Australia’s supplies of masks, hand sanitiser, antibacterial wipes and essential medical supplies and shipped them back to China.

The Greenland Group, which manages high-end real estate projects in Sydney and Melbourne, proactively drained Australian supplies of anti-coronavirus equipment, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Three million surgical masks, 500,000 pairs of gloves and bulk supplies of sanitiser and wipes were bought up in Australia and other countries where Greenland operates.

While the bulk purchases and shipping were perfectly legitimate, the goods shipped in bulk to China include the very items that have been in short supply for Australian citizens as well as health professionals.

They were accumulated at Greenland’s Sydney headquarters and sent to China over weeks in January and February.

As coronavirus locked down Wuhan, the global Fortune 500 company put its normal work on hold and instructed staff in Australia, Canada, Turkey and elsewhere to source supplies.

Pallet loads of items including thermometers and 700,000 hazmat suits were sent to China, the Herald reported.

Greenland deployed its HR staff members, contract managers and others away from their desks to go out and amass as many of the items as possible.

It was reported Greenland’s Australian managing director Sherwood Luo even posted about it on social media.

He posted on Facebook in February: “Greenland Australia is taking action. The second batch of non-contact forehead thermometers will soon take off to China!”

Founded in Shanghai in 1992, Greenland Group manages large scale property projects in more than 100 cities in nine countries.

It specialises in ultra-high-rise buildings, large urban complexes, industrial parks and business districts surrounding transportation centres.