Marie-Chantale Cyr
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi lent a billion dollars to Latin America and the Caribbean to access the Covid-19 vaccine.
"Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the Chinese-developed vaccine would be widely available and that Beijing would grant a one-billion-dollar loan to support Latin American and Caribbean countries to access the vaccine," Mexico's Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke at a press conference in Beijing, February 26 Photo: Reuters
The agency said Wang's commitment was made during an online meeting with Latin American partners the day before.
The online meeting on July 22 was attended by Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, along with representatives from Latin American and Caribbean countries including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Panama,
After Beijing announced the loan, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador thanked China.
Before the meeting, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wen Bin said, "China and the Latin American countries and the Caribbean are far apart, but they are fighting against the common enemy Covid-19 and working effectively and effectively, because
Wang said the meeting between China's Foreign Minister and Latin American partners would "strengthen our mutual agreement to fight the epidemic, strengthen mutual trust, and maintain multilateralism."
Specialist of Sinovac Biotech, a biotechnology company, is in the process of researching a vaccine at its Beijing headquarters on April 29. Photo: AFP
Latin America was one of the global epidemics at the end of May. Johns Hopkins University (JHU) data last week showed that Latin America and the Caribbean recorded more nCoV deaths than both the US and Canada.
Peru, Chile and Mexico are also among the 10 countries with the highest number of confirmed cases.
China's announcement of a one-billion-dollar loan to help Latin America and the Caribbean access to the vaccine comes as the Chinese biotechnology company Sinovac has begun testing the third-stage Covid-19 vaccine.
Covid-19 exacerbated tensions between the United States and China, pushing bilateral relations to their lowest levels in years.
The Trump administration has recently imposed sanctions on China for policies relating to Hong Kong and Xinjiang, and also pressured allies to stop cooperating with Huawei technology group.
