-- Pakistan has become the first country to receive China's vaccine aid after a batch of doses developed by China's Sinopharm arrived in the country on Monday from Beijing via a special Pakistan Air Force aircraft.

-- In addition to Pakistan, China is providing COVID-19 vaccines to 13 developing countries including Brunei, Nepal, the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, Mongolia and Palestine in Asia, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin.

-- China will aid 38 more developing countries in need of COVID-19 vaccines and is actively participating in the World Health Organization's COVAX initiative to provide vaccines through this platform to developing countries, Wang Wenbin added.

-- Defending the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccines developed by China, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said last month that the Chinese vaccines are "safe, sure, and secure."

by Yi Ling, Liu Tian and Misbah Saba Malik

HONG KONG, Feb. 7  -- The first batch of China's Sinopharm vaccines is due to arrive in Cambodia on Sunday to help launch an inoculation drive against COVID-19 starting from the upcoming Wednesday.

China has been racing to help Asian countries fight the coronavirus pandemic with home-developed COVID-19 vaccines, honoring its commitment to making vaccines a global public good once available.