Xi's year of diplomacy in 9 keywords

President Xi Jinping has expounded on China's positions on major global issues at various diplomatic events in 2021, covering climate change, the fight against COVID-19, multilateralism and many other issues. Let's take a look.

A medical worker administers a dose of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, June 17, 2021. (Xinhua/Rahmatullah Alizadah)

Close immunization gap

As the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging globally, Xi called for joint efforts to advance anti-virus cooperation and promote economic recovery.

"We need to promote the research, production and fair distribution of vaccines, ensure their accessibility and affordability in developing countries, and close the immunization gap", Xi said at the 28th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting.

China has provided nearly 2 billion doses of vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations, making China the largest vaccine exporter in the world.

It has also undertaken to offer $3 billion over the next three years to support COVID-19 response and economic and social recovery in developing countries.

At the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Xi said that to help Africa achieve its target of vaccinating 60 percent of its population by 2022, China will provide another 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the continent, among which 600 million doses will be donated and 400 million doses will be jointly produced by Chinese and local firms.