A chartered Air China aircraft carrying the first batch of humanitarian materials from China to Mexico took off at 7:30 PM Beijing time (11:30 GMT) on Thursday from the Beijing Capital International Airport.

The Boeing 747-400 was scheduled to arrive in Mexico City early on May 1.

The goods included masks, gloves, isolation coats, disinfectant and infrared thermometers.

China's government announced on Wednesday it would send relief materials worth US$4 million and US$1 million relief funding to Mexico to help prevent swine flu.

The funding was transferred to Mexico on Wednesday and the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) was coordinating government agencies to arrange batches of humanitarian materials, the MOC said Thursday in a website statement.

Air China said it was taking precautions to prevent the spread of swine flu among passengers.

Air travelers from Mexico and the United States must go through a separate path on arriving at Chinese airports and undergo infrared screening, according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

Passengers with a temperature above 37.5 degrees Celsius will be subject to strict medical examinations.

(Xinhua News Agency May 1, 2009)