Xi says China aims to provide 2 bln COVID-19 vaccine doses to world in 2021 -CCTV

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcoming ceremony for Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos outside the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China May 14, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo

REUTERS

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday said China will strive to provide 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to other countries in 2021, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

In his written message to an international COVID-19 vaccine cooperation forum, Xi also said China would donate $100 million to the COVAX global vaccine distribution scheme, according to the CCTV report.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in late Julythat China had supplied over 700 million vaccine doses to other countries.

Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; writing by Tom Daly and Roxanne Liu; Editing by Kevin Liffey