Taiwanese firms Foxconn, which makes devices for Apple, and chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) brokered the agreements for the BioNTech vaccine, to buy 10 million doses of a Covid vaccine for Taiwan worth $350m.

Taiwan has been trying for months to buy the vaccine from Germany’s BioNTech and blames China for blocking a deal.

China, which claims the self-ruled island as its own territory, denies the accusations.

The deals will see Foxconn and TSMC buy five million doses of the vaccine each and donate them to the government for distribution.

The agreement was revealed in a statement by BioNTech’s Chinese sales agent Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group.

Fosun Pharma’s chairman and chief executive Wu Yifang said they would “work closely with our partners to provide safe and effective vaccines to Taiwan at an early date”.

Foxconn’s billionaire founder and chairman Terry Gou wrote on his Facebook page that Beijing did not interfere with the talks.