CHINA TO OFFER $3 BILLION TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES FOR COVID-19 RESPONSE
China's President Xi Jinping announced on Friday that China would provide an additional $3 billion in funding over the next three years to help developing countries recover from the coronavirus pandemic, and proposed the establishment of an international forum on vaccine cooperation. The funds will support COVID-19 response and economic and social recovery in other developing countries.
These remarks were made by President Xi Jinping during his speech at the Global Health Summit via a video link from Beijing. The summit was a special event in Rome and organized by Italy, the G20 Presidency of 2021, and the European Commission.
Furthermore, Beijing supports the transfer of technologies from its vaccine companies to other developing countries and trying out joint production with them, Xi said.
The forum on vaccine cooperation would be "for vaccine-developing and producing countries, companies and other stakeholders to explore ways of promoting fair and equitable distribution of vaccines around the world," Xi said.
“Today the problem of uneven vaccination has become more acute. It is imperative for us to reject vaccine nationalism and make vaccines more accessible and affordable for developing countries,” Xi said in a video address.
Xi stated that China has already sent 300 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the world and will continue to do so and that China is completely enforcing the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative for the Poorest Countries and has so far put off debt repayments exceeding $1.3 billion, the highest deferral among G20 members.
According to Xi, China has contributed $2 billion to the COVID-19 response as well as the economic and social recovery of developing countries and has shipped medical supplies to more than 150 countries and 13 international organisations, providing more than 280 billion masks, 3.4 billion protective suits and 4 billion testing kits to the world.
He called on major countries to take up the responsibility to provide more vaccines to developing nations in urgent need.