China provides 500 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to int'l community

BEIJING, July 9 (Xinhua) -- China has provided more than 100 countries and international organizations with 500 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines and concentrates, accounting for one-sixth of the current global COVID-19 vaccine production, a Foreign Ministry official told Xinhua on Friday.

Guo Xuejun, deputy director-general of the department of international economic affairs at the Foreign Ministry, said during an interview with Xinhua that China has also actively supported other developing countries in producing vaccines to expand the global vaccine capacity.

China has always accommodated domestic and foreign needs for COVID-19 vaccines, said Guo, adding that China opposes vaccine nationalism.

With the help of the Chinese government, Chinese vaccine enterprises have carried out joint vaccine production in countries including the UAE, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt, Brazil, Turkey, Pakistan and Mexico, with production exceeding 200 million doses, Guo said.

Among the 140 countries that have signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with China, 84 countries have proposed introducing Chinese vaccines in the first half of this year, said Guo, adding that China has made a positive response to all these countries and provided vaccines.

Guo said that in the future China will continue to work with all parties to enhance vaccine cooperation, further improve the accessibility and affordability of vaccines in developing countries to make a greater contribution to fighting the pandemic and promoting economic recovery.