Belarus on Friday received a planeload of 100,000 COVID-19 vaccines donated by China to bolster the country's efforts against the virus.

The Sinopharm vaccine is the first approved by China to enter the market.

The vaccine donation comes following a Jan. 26 telephone conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, in which the former vowed to expand pragmatic cooperation with Minsk in various areas, including the fight against COVID-19.

By Friday, Belarus had reported 275,322 COVID-19 infections with 1,894 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University.