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BEIJING: China said on Sunday (March 7) that it has plans to establish COVID-19 vaccination stations to vaccinate Chinese citizens abroad and is also ready to work with the International Olympic Committee to help provide vaccines to athletes. Olympics for upcoming events.
China has developed several vaccines domestically and has started its own vaccination campaign, with plans to vaccinate 40 percent of its population by July.
READ: Chinese urgency on COVID-19 disappears in vaccination campaign
China’s top government diplomat Wang Yi made the remarks during his annual press conference on Sunday.
“We are preparing to establish regional vaccination sites for domestically produced vaccines in countries where conditions allow, to provide services to compatriots in need in neighboring countries,” Wang said.
He said that some Chinese nationals were already receiving Chinese-made vaccines abroad in accordance with local law.
He said China would also make the vaccines available to Olympians and is open to discussions on mutual recognition of vaccines with other countries, but did not offer details.
China is scheduled to hold the 2022 Winter Olympics next year, while the Summer Olympics are scheduled to take place in Japan later this year.
China has said it plans to provide 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the global COVAX vaccine exchange scheme. Vaccines from Chinese companies are already being offered in several countries, including Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
During Sunday’s press conference, Wang also spoke out against “vaccine nationalism” and said China will resist any attempt to politicize cooperation on vaccines.
READ: Vaccine nationalism puts the world on the brink of a ‘catastrophic moral failure’: WHO chief
Beijing has repeatedly challenged the idea that the new coronavirus originated in China and has embarked on a vaccine diplomacy campaign to ship Chinese-developed COVID-19 vaccines around the world.
China has denied taking advantage of the fight against COVID-19 to boost its global influence.
President Xi Jinping has vowed to make China’s vaccines a “global public good.”
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