China vows to accelerate vaccine aid to Africa: FM

China on Tuesday vowed to continuously step up vaccine assistance to Africa by offering vaccines doses and conducting joint vaccine production until the continent completely beats the COVID-19 pandemic.

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remarks at a joint press conference with Senegalese Foreign Minister Aissata Tall Sall in Dakar.

The country has so far provided about 180 million doses of vaccines to Africa. President Xi Jinping pledged to supply another 1 billion doses to African countries, with 600 million doses offered for free and the rest offered through various means including joint production by Chinese and African enterprises, as the continent grapples with the emergence of a new and potentially more transmissible variant named Omicron.

The assistance is to help vaccinate 60 percent of the African population, a goal set by the African Union.

China will stand firmly with African countries to fully implement the measures, to ensure the accessibility and affordability of vaccines in Africa, and jointly make greater contribution to the fight against the pandemic in Africa and around the globe, the State Councilor said.

The advancing of global vaccination has resulted in a huge "vaccine divide" in Africa, Wang said, adding that overall vaccination rate in the continent is less than one-fifth of the global average rate, which is extremely unfair and unreasonable and must be corrected as soon as possible.

The lives and health of the African people are as valuable and important as the people of other countries, he said.

China is ready to make new contributions to Africa's access to more vaccines, take practical moves to demonstrate their traditions of mutual assistance and sharing weal and woe, he said.

Wang expressed confidence in China's vaccine production capability, saying that the supply of vaccines to Africa will be guaranteed.

On the other hand, Wang noted that China is ready to work with African countries to jointly produce vaccines.

China was the first to support waiving the intellectual property rights underpinning COVID-19 vaccines as well as to carry out vaccine production cooperation with other developing countries.

According to Wang, Chinese companies have worked with 19 countries to produce vaccines, including Egypt, Algeria and Morocco.

Chinese vaccines can be also manufactured in Africa, he said, adding that they can also be jointly produced by the two sides so as to enhance Africa's own production capacity.

Despite the long distance, vaccine aid must "outrun" the virus across mountains and seas, he said.

China and Africa will adopt flexible and diverse approaches to ensure vaccines can be delivered to every place in need and can be accessed by every person in need in Africa, he said.