China had donated 500,000 doses up to July, and the additional doses would make it the largest donor of Covid-19 vaccines to the country.

In a statement, the foreign ministry said the agreement comes after a telephone call between the minister, Saifuddin Abdullah, and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, this morning.

“Malaysia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have been working hand in hand since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic,” the ministry said, noting the numerous donations of equipment and aid between the two countries.

Both ministers also reaffirmed their commitment towards closer cooperation and strengthening bilateral ties.

“Other than building on existing foundations to further deepen and broaden the multifaceted cooperation, Malaysia and the PRC will continue to expand bilateral cooperation into new areas, especially in new technology and industries like the digital economy and cyber security, for the mutual benefit of our two peoples.”

Both ministers also discussed regional and international issues, including the latest developments in the South China Sea when a Chinese marine resource survey ship was spotted inside Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone.

Science, technology and innovation minister Dr Adham Baba said yesterday that Malaysia had received donations of 2,913,790 doses of various Covid-19 vaccines.

The US donated 1,000,350 Pfizer doses, followed by Japan, which gave 998,400 AstraZeneca doses. China has supplied 500,000 Sinovac doses and the UK gave 415,040 AstraZeneca doses.

Excluding the latest donation from China, Malaysia has procured nearly 88 million vaccine doses from a variety of sources, enough to fully vaccinate 142% of the population.

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