BEIJING, Feb. 3 (INP): Chinese government attaches high importance to vaccine safety and will continue to take measures in accordance with law to crack down on illegal production and sale of counterfeit vaccines, smuggling, illegal vaccination and other vaccine-related crimes.  

In the meantime, China will enhance law enforcement cooperation with relevant countries to prevent the spreading of such crimes, this was stated here by a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Wang Wenbin at a news briefing.  

He added, Ministry of Public Security instructing the public security departments nationwide to carry out the special operations to combat and prevent vaccine-related crimes, as well as on police in Jiangsu and other provinces and regions jointly solving a case of manufacturing and selling fake vaccines.  

Wang Wenbin assured that the Chinese government always regards vaccine's safety and efficacy as the top priority. China's vaccine R&D companies have been advancing their work and conducting international cooperation in strict accordance with scientific rules, regulatory requirements and relevant laws and regulations.  

“At the current stage, several China-made vaccines are undergoing phase III clinical trials overseas, and judging from the data generated by these trials that have been released so far, Chinese vaccines are safe and effective.  

At the end of last year, China's National Medical Products Administration granted conditional marketing authorization to Sinopharm's inactivated vaccine. Plus, many countries including the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt and Brazil have approved the use of Chinese vaccines. All these testify to the safety and efficacy of Chinese vaccines.

To a question, the spokesperson said, since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Chinese side has maintained close communication and cooperation with WHO on global origin-tracing in an open and transparent manner. WHO experts have made three visits to China for exchanges and communication on relevant issues.  

“The visit this time is part of global science and research cooperation on origin-tracing, and the Chinese side has provided strong support and assistance to make this visit happen and work. Chinese experts have shared loads of information and research outcomes and conducted rounds of in-depth exchanges on scientific issues of mutual interest with their counterparts. The WHO and international experts all speak highly of China's efforts,” he added. 

He pointed out that origin-tracing is a complex scientific issue which involves many countries and places. More and more clues, reports and studies have indicated that the infections broke out in multiple places in the world in the latter half of the year 2019.  

According to a US CDC report, Covid-19 antibodies were detected in blood donations collected in December 2019, which means that the virus may have already been spreading in the United States by then, earlier than January 21 when the first official confirmed COVID-19 case was reported in the country. 

We hope that following China's example, the US will act in a positive, science-based and cooperative manner on the origin-tracing issue, ensure transparency, and invite WHO experts in for an origin-tracing study. This is what the US can do to promote international anti-epidemic cooperation and science-based origin-tracing, he added. 

INP/JAVED