China has made great progress in Covid-19 vaccine research: Chinese Ambassador

NEW DELHI: Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong on Wednesday said that China has made "great progress" in vaccine research and development in the fight against Covid-19 and, when developed, it would be accessible to developing countries.

He said China and India should join hands to strengthen cooperation and fight against the epidemic together and noted that the Indian government took decisive measures to contain the spread of coronavirus.

He also wished India an early victory in the battle against coronavirus.

Speaking at a webinar here organised by Confederation of Young Leaders, Sun said China has simultaneously promoted vaccine research and development through five technical routes.

"At present, China has made great progress on vaccine research and development. China has simultaneously promoted vaccine research and development through five technical routes. It is reported that eight novel coronavirus vaccine candidates are in the clinical trial, four from China," Sun said.

"On May 22, the Chinese team led by Chen Wei, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, published a report on the world-known medical journal Lancet. The phase-1 trial results of their vaccine candidate on humans prove to be safe and effective. This result is encouraging," he added.

He recalled that President Xi Jinping had said that China will ensure that the vaccine, once developed, would be accessible and affordable for developing countries.

"President Xi Jinping addressed the Opening of the 73rd World Health Assembly and announced important proposals to boost global fight against Covid-19. He said that Covid-19 vaccine development and deployment in China, when available, will be made a global public good, and this will be China's contribution to ensuring vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries," Weidong said.

Lauding the Indian government for taking measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19, he said that the support of people had played a big role in controlling the spread of the disease.

"After the outbreak of the epidemic, the Indian government attached great importance and took decisive measures. I am impressed with several things. The first is swift action. Since March 25, the Indian government has taken lockdown measures in different stages, even though there were not many confirmed cases at that time. The second is solidarity. People across all sectors in India reached a basic consensus on epidemic prevention and control, understand and support the lockdown measures. The third is cooperation. The majority of the Indian people follow government instructions and advice to stay at home, and the overall social order has been stable since the lockdown," the Chinese Ambassador said.

He said China and India have maintained close communication and cooperation on epidemic prevention and control since the outbreak.

"Our two leaders President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have exchanged letters and our foreign ministers made phone calls twice to strengthen our anti-epidemic cooperation. Indian people from all walks of life have shown their support in various ways at our most trying time," the Ambassador said.

"As sister provinces and cities, Guangdong Province and Chongqing City have respectively donated medical supplies to Gujarat state and Chennai city. Alibaba, Fosun, SANY Group and other Chinese enterprises and charities have assisted India with a large number of medical supplies such as facial and protective masks, protective suits, medical gloves and ventilators," he added.

Stressing on the need for the two countries to continue working together in close cooperation to defeat the infection, Weidong said, "This year marks the 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between China and India. As neighbours, friends and partners, China and India should join hands, strengthen cooperation and fight against the epidemic together. I sincerely wish India an early victory in this battle.