China Aims to Provide 2 bln COVID-19 Vaccine Doses to World in 2021, Xi Says

According to official broadcaster CCTV, China will strive to provide 2 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to the world throughout this year and offer 100 million U.S. dollars to COVAX, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday in a written message to the first meeting of the international forum on COVID-19 vaccine cooperation.

The 100 million US dollars to COVAX will mainly go to the distribution of vaccines to developing countries, he said, adding that China would do its best to help developing countries cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

China is committed to building a global community of health for all and has provided vaccines to the world, especially developing countries. The country actively carried out joint production, which illustrates the concept of vaccines as global public goods, Xi stressed.

"I hope this forum will promote the accessibility and fair distribution of vaccines around the world, strengthen solidarity and cooperation in developing countries, and make new contributions for an early victory against the pandemic," he said.

At the Global Health Summit this May, Xi announced five measures to support global solidarity against COVID-19. These include the proposal of setting up an international forum on vaccine cooperation for vaccine-developing and producing countries, companies, and other stakeholders to explore ways of promoting fair and equitable distribution of vaccines worldwide.

"We are willing to work with the international community to promote international vaccine cooperation and build a community with a shared future for humanity," he said.

China had supplied over 770 million vaccine doses to other countries, a statement on the website of its foreign ministry quoted Foreign Minister Wang Yi as saying at the forum on Thursday, according to Reuters.

Sinovac Biotech (SVA.O), one of the major Chinese vaccine suppliers, has signed cooperation agreements with 20 foreign countries involving nearly 900 million vaccine doses of its shot, its chief executive Yin Weidong said on Thursday in a speech at the forum, according a transcript of his address provided by a Sinovac spokesman.

Apart from China, Sinovac's partners in Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey, Malaysia and Egypt will also partake in producing these doses, Yin said.

Sinovac will apply to regulators in various nations for clinical trials and emergency use authorization for two new versions of its vaccine, tweaked to target the Delta variant and Gamma variant respectively, in the near future, Yin said.