Tuesday, 12 Jan 2021
6:55 PM MYT

BEIJING, Jan 12 (Xinhua/Reuters): China will give Myanmar a batch of coronavirus vaccines for free, the Chinese foreign ministry announced on Tuesday, as the government's top diplomat wrapped up a two-day visit to Myanmar.

"China will continue to provide anti-epidemic materials according to Myanmar's needs. We shall give a batch of coronavirus for free and will continue discussions on vaccine cooperation," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry also said that when top diplomat, Wang Yi, met the commander-in-chief of the Myanmar military, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, he sought the support of the military for a China-Myanmar Economic Corridor.

The corridor is a network - some of it existing and some planned - of transport and other infrastructure projects passing through areas where ethnic minority factions battle each other and government forces.

Fighting in northeastern Myanmar sometimes sends refugees fleeing over the border into China.

After leaving Myanmar, Wang Yi, China's state councillor and foreign minister, will visit Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines before returning to China on Jan 16.

Earlier, Wang Yi met with Myanmar's State Councillor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi here on Monday, with the two expressing willingness to strengthen cooperation.

Wang said China firmly supports the smooth administration of the National League for Democracy (NLD) government, and backs the Myanmar side in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interest.

The two sides have reached consensus in principle on the action plan to jointly build a China-Myanmar community with a shared future following Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Myanmar last year, injecting strong momentum to the cause, he said.

Wang said China is willing to continue to support Myanmar to fight the Covid-19 epidemic, and provide the Myanmar side with a batch of anti-epidemic materials as well as Covid-19 vaccines.

China is also willing to work with Myanmar to implement the five-year plan for economic and trade cooperation, speed up the construction of the west, north, and east ends of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), promote an early implementation of the Kyaukpyu deep sea port, the China-Myanmar Border Economic Cooperation Zone and the New Yangon City, to boost Myanmar's development, he added.

As Myanmar will assume the roles of the country coordinator of China-ASEAN relations and co-chair of Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, Wang said China is willing to push the China-ASEAN relations to a higher level, and promote the development of the Lancang-Mekong cooperation.

For her part, Suu Kyi said the Myanmar side attaches great importance to Myanmar-China relations, and hopes to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with the Chinese side. The Myanmar side pays much emphasis on the CMEC construction, and is willing to jointly push forward relevant projects.

Myanmar thanks China for providing aid of Covid-19 vaccines, and hopes to further expand exports to China as well as to enhance cooperation of labor service, she said, adding that Myanmar is willing to promote China-Asean relationship to further develop.

Wang also met with U Kyaw Tint Swe, minister of the State Counsellor's Office here on Monday. - Xinhua/Reuters

https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanplus-news/2021/01/12/china-to-provide-myanmar-free-covid-19-vaccine-wang-yi-concludes---two-day-visit