An expat has recently become famous in Deqing county, Zhejiang province, after volunteering as a community worker to support local efforts to combat the novel coronavirus pneumonia.

Christian Klein of Vienna, Austria, together with his Chinese wife Wu Haiyin, are residents of the Xi'an Community in Xin'an town, Deqing. They volunteered to help in the local fight against the infection.

On Monday, they started to help check pass permits and take temperatures of residents at an intersection in Xin'an.

Klein has been in China for three years. He is currently a technical counselor at a logistics company in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

Since the outbreak, officials at the Austrian embassy in China have contacted Klein several times asking him to return home. However, Klein declined and insisted on staying in China.

"I live and work in China, and my wife is Chinese. I consider myself half Chinese," he said, "I believe in the Chinese government. China is going to make it."

His wife, Wu, said Klein previously asked her whether he could travel to Wuhan and offer community services there.

His wife discouraged the notion. "We can offer little help there in Wuhan if we don't have sufficient medical expertise. But we still can contribute in our hometown," she said.

In addition to serving at the intersection, Klein also joined other volunteers in making Chinese dumplings.

He won recognition from other volunteers for his dedication.