HANGZHOU, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- China's e-commerce giant Alibaba has launched an online platform for direct procurement of worldwide medical supplies to meet the urgent demand in fighting the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The platform strives to efficiently match the supply with the rising demand in regions hit hard by the epidemic, especially hospitals. Trading firms and manufacturers of medical supplies around the world can publish their supply information on the platform so that Alibaba will purchase directly from them and ship the products to the front lines.

Emergency supplies such as masks, protective suits, goggles and gloves are still urgently needed in China, said Alibaba.

It also published a letter to convey gratitude to donors from home and abroad.

The company said information on the platform is transparent and will be efficiently matched to ensure the smooth and safe delivery of emergency supplies to medical workers. Alibaba has also cooperated with global logistics firms to offer faster delivery solutions across countries and regions.

On Jan. 25, the tech giant set up a special fund of 1 billion yuan (about 144 million U.S. dollars) for medical supplies to counter the epidemic. As of Monday, Alibaba has shipped the supplies including donations to 18 hospitals in three provinces including hard-hit Hubei.