Your Excellency Rodrigo Roa Duterte, President of the Republic of the Philippines,

Honorable Senator Christopher Lawrence Tesoro Go,

Honorable Secretaries and Colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It's my great honor to join President Duterte and all of you to witness the arrival of the first batch of 1 million doses Sinovac vaccines purchased by the Philippine government, which is another highlight of anti-epidemic cooperation between China and the Philippines.

COVID-19 vaccine is an effective tool against the virus. China, among countries around the world, is working against the clock to promote mass vaccination and planning to vaccinate over 500 million Chinese citizens by the first half of this year. Despite the increasing domestic need and the limited supply of vaccines, China has not only taken the lead in donating vaccines to the Philippines, but also prioritized and facilitated the latter's vaccine procurement from China. China now is the first and only country to provide vaccines to the Philippines through both donation and commercial procurement, which is a testament to our traditional friendship with solidarity and closer partnership in the new era.

The Philippines is facing the challenge of resurgence of cases, and mass vaccination is racing against the time. The vaccines which has arrived today is the first batch of the 25-million-doses vaccine procurement deal between the Philippine government and China's Sinovac. The safety and effectiveness of Sinovac are earning growing confidence among the Filipinos, making it the mainstay of nationwide vaccination in the country. Still more Chinese vaccines will come soon as expected to help the Philippines defeat the virus and normalize its economy.

It's always believed by the Chinese people that, "Friendship based on selfish interests will perish soon, while friendship based on mutual goodwill and assistance will last a lifetime." Facing the pandemic once seen in a century, let's hold the torch of solidarity and cooperation to light the way forward and brace a brighter future of our two countries in the post pandemic world.

Thank you and Mabuhay!