Xi calls for international vaccine cooperation

BEIJING, China -- Chinese President Xi Jinping called for the fair and reasonable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across the globe which is crucial in the fight against the pandemic still raging worldwide.

Xi has been leading China to fulfill its responsibility as a major country and promoting global vaccine cooperation. China has been donating vaccines to more than 100 countries and exporting vaccines to more than 60 countries, with the total amount exceeding 770 million doses, ranking first in the world.

Xi has, on various bilateral and multilateral occasions, called for closer international vaccine cooperation.

Last year, at the opening of the 73rd session of the World Health Assembly via video link, Xi said "COVID-19 vaccine development and deployment in China, when available, will be made a global public good."

"This will be China's contribution to ensuring vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries," he added.

In November last year, Xi also addressed the Group of 20 (G20) Riyadh Summit via video link where he said said that China actively supports and participates in international cooperation on COVID-19 vaccines.

China, he said, has joined the COVAX facility and stands ready to step up cooperation with other countries on the research and development, production and distribution of vaccines.

"We will honor our commitment of giving assistance and support to other developing countries, and work to make vaccines a global public good accessible and affordable to people around the world," he said.

In a speech delivered at the Global Health Summit via video in Beijing in May this year, Xi said: "A year ago, I proposed that vaccines should be made a global public good. Today, the problem of uneven vaccination has become more acute."

"It is imperative for us to reject vaccine nationalism and find solutions to issues concerning the production capacity and distribution of vaccines, in order to make vaccines more accessible and affordable in developing countries," he added.

Addressing the Informal Economic Leaders' Retreat of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation via video link in Beijing last month, Xi said that overcoming the challenges of its own mass vaccination program, China has provided more than 500 million doses of vaccines to other developing countries, and will provide another $3 billion in international aid over the next three years to support COVID-19 response and economic and social recovery in other developing countries.

In a written message to the first meeting of the International Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation, Xi said that China will strive to provide two billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to the world throughout this year and offer $100 million to COVAX, the global COVID-19 vaccine equity scheme, for the distribution of vaccines to developing countries.

"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.