China hosts first meeting of Int’l Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation

Diplomatic Correspondent: The First Meeting of the International Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation was held via video link. Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the meeting, which was hosted by State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a written form, says a Press release of the Chinese Embassy.

In his remarks, Wang Yi said, vaccines matter so much to the humans’ fight against the virus that they should be distributed worldwide fairly and reasonably, without  a country or a person not granted access to them. Vaccines should be made vaccines of the people in the real sense. To triumph over this fight that bears on the future of the human race, the world has no option but to stay united and work together. On that basis, Wang Yi shared the following thoughts: First, all countries need to put lives above anything else and promote global access to vaccines. Vaccines are a weapon to save lives, instead of a means to seek a country`s private interests or a tool for geopolitical games. Second, all countries need to defend morality and justice and offer more assistance to developing countries, including   addressing   the “capacity   deficit”   “distribution   deficit”   and “cooperation deficit” . Third, all countries need to practice multilateralism and enhance the effectiveness of international cooperation. All countries should respect certification systems such as the World Health Organization Emergency Use Listing, and conduct mutual certification and regulatory policy coordination in respect of vaccines in line with the scientific and fair principles. Fourth, all countries need to strengthen coordination and build multiple lines of defense against the pandemic. International joint prevention and control should be intensified to minimize the risk of cross-border spread of the pandemic.

Wang Yi mentioned that, last May, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a solemn commitment at the 73rd World Health Assembly that China would make vaccines a global public good, and make its contribution to vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries. China is true in word and resolute in deed, and has taken the lead in sharing the full-length genomic sequence of COVID-19 with the world, conducting   phase   III   clinical   trials   of   inactivated   COVID-19   vaccines   overseas, providing vaccines to developing countries in need, and cooperating with developing countries in vaccine production. China has donated and is donating vaccines to more than 100 countries, and  has  exported  more  than  770  million  doses  of  vaccines  to  over  60 countries, the most of any nation in the world. Under our combined efforts, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Indonesia, and Brazil have become the first ones in their respective regions to  have  the  production  capacity  of  COVID-19  vaccines,  which charted a new chapter of unity and self-reliance among developing countries. China has also actively provided vaccines to COVAX, UN peacekeepers  and  the  International Olympic Committee. China has launched the Initiative for Belt and Road Partnership on COVID-19 Vaccines Cooperation days ago, and welcomes more countries to join the initiative.

Wang Yi underlined, China has no political purpose in or does not seek any economic interests from its international cooperation in vaccines. And, there have never been any political conditions attached to such cooperation. Its only goal is to make vaccines a global public good and those for the people of the world in the real sense. China will continue to steadily increase our production capacity, provide more accessible and affordable Chinese vaccines to the world, and meet the needs of developing countries.  In the  year,  China  will  strive  to  provide  2  billion  doses  of  vaccines  to  the world. China will continue to deepen technology transfer and production capacity cooperation with developing countries, support the WTO in making an early decision on waiving  intellectual  property  rights  on  COVID-19  vaccines,  and  support  COVAX  by delivering the first batch of more than 100 million doses of vaccines to the facility before the end of October and making good use of the 100 million U.S. dollar-donation just announced to the facility, so as to benefit more developing countries.

The meeting was themed “strengthening international cooperation on vaccines, promoting fair and equitable distribution of vaccines around the world”. Deputy prime ministers,  foreign  ministers,  health  ministers  or  high  representatives  of  countries, including Thailand, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Turkey, Chile,   Dominican   Republic,   Colombia,   Egypt,   Hungary,   Indonesia,   Kenya, Mexico,  Morocco,  Pakistan,  the  Philippines,  Serbia,  Sri  Lanka,  Ecuador,  the UAE, and Russia, responsible officials of such international organizations as the United Nations,  the  WHO,  the  Global  Alliance  for  Vaccines  and  Immunization  and  the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and representatives from 29 Chinese and foreign vaccine manufacturers attended the meeting. The meeting also adopted the Joint Statement of the International Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation.