A shipment of 100,000 doses of a Chinese-made vaccine against COVID-19 and 100,800 syringes, all donated by China, has arrived in Timor-Leste, the Chinese Embassy in Dili says.

The embassy issued a written statement quoting Chinese Ambassador to Timor-Leste Xiao Jianguo as saying that the gift shows the firmness of Chinese support for Timorese efforts to counter the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Xiao said when the shipment was turned over on Saturday that China had now given Timor-Leste 12 batches of medical supplies, and that the 13th was due to arrive in Timor-Leste soon.

 Timorese Vice-premier Armanda Berta dos Santos expressed thanks for the prompt Chinese aid, and her wish for closer Sino-Timorese cooperation in countering COVID-19, the Chinese Embassy in Dili says.

In April the Timorese government said it would receive 100,000 doses of CoronaVac, a vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech Ltd of China.