Staff Correspondent: Dhaka, Jul-16,

Bangladesh will receive 20 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine from China on Saturday night as part of the commercial agreement as the country has accelerated its vaccination drive.

Deputy Chief of Mission at the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka Hualong Yan on Friday told UNB that the vaccine doses will arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in two aircraft.

He said China will also provide 10 lakh doses of the Sinopharm vaccine in addition to the 11 lakh doses already received as a gift from it.

"This is a gift for our Bangladeshi brothers and sisters in their fight against the pandemic," Hualong Yan said.

Bangladesh has already received 20 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine as part of a commercial purchase from China.

Bangladesh will receive initially 1.5 crore doses of vaccine as part of a commercial purchase agreement.

Hualong said China stands ready to provide support and assistance to help with the Bangladesh government's poverty alleviation through the China-South Asian Countries Poverty Alleviation and Cooperative Development Center.

Earlier, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China will continue to provide Bangladesh with the Covid vaccines to help Bangladesh fight the epidemic.

He also said China is willing to work with Bangladesh to maintain the momentum of the development of the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.

The Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister met Foreign Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momon in Tashkent and discussed the issues on the sidelines of the International Conference on “Central and South Asia: Regional connectivity - Challenges and opportunities” on Thursday.

Wang Yi said that China and Bangladesh are good neighbours and friends and the two sides always adhere to equal treatment and mutual respect, continue to deepen friendly cooperation, and actively jointly build the "Belt and Road".