Chinese FM calls for urgently providing COVID-19 vaccines to Africa

BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday called on all capable countries to urgently provide COVID-19 vaccines to Africa while chairing a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) open debate via video link.

"The international community should give more help on anti-pandemic supplies, medicines, technology and funding, especially through ways including non-reimbursable assistance, preferential procurement, technology transfer, and cooperative production, so as to ensure the accessibility and affordability of vaccines in Africa," he said.

In the face of the once-in-a-century pandemic, China and Africa are willing to jointly launch a partnership initiative to support Africa's development, Wang said.

He called on the international community to beef up support for Africa in such areas as fighting the pandemic, post-pandemic reconstruction, trade and investment, debt relief, food security, poverty reduction and alleviation, coping with climate change, as well as industrialization.

"China welcomes more countries and international organizations, especially Africa's traditional cooperation partners, to join this initiative, adhering to the principle of 'Africa-led, equal-footing, and openness', strengthening coordination and cooperation, committing to real multilateralism, so as to gather the strong force to support Africa's development," he said.

As the president of the UNSC for May, China convened a UNSC open debate on Wednesday on "Peace and Security in Africa: Addressing Root Causes of Conflict in Post-Pandemic Recovery in Africa".