简体中文
China is ready to work together with countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the research and development of vaccines for the COVID-19, Chinese ambassador to ASEAN Deng Xijun said here on Thursday.
The two sides have had a number of anti-pandemic cooperation since the outbreak of the COVID-19 in the region, pushing for regional consensus on a stronger collective response and in the meantime, strengthening trade ties between the two sides, the ambassador said at a virtual press conference.
"ASEAN countries are close, friendly neighbors of China, and we have the tradition of mutual support and help. And we have enjoyed sound cooperation against the disease," he said.
There is great potential of cooperation between China and ASEAN in the research, development and production of COVID-19 vaccine and China looks forward to cooperation in the area, he said.
The ambassador said that in China, vaccines were currently being developed in five categories -- inactivated vaccines, recombinant protein vaccines, live attenuated influenza vaccines, adenovirus vaccines, and nucleic acid-based vaccines.
"To date, four inactivated vaccines and one adenovirus vaccine have been approved for clinical trials," the diplomat said.
"While scientists in China and abroad have kept up with their latest developments, China leads the world in certain technological approaches to the vaccines," he added.
The ambassador stressed that the COVID-19 vaccine, when available in China, will be made a global public good.
ASEAN, which was founded in 1967, comprises 10 countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
