Jakarta (ANTARA) - China has declared its support for Indonesia to build an original vaccine manufacturing hub in a bid to follow up on the vaccine cooperation forged between both nations.
“Vaccine cooperation has become a new highlight of our bilateral relations. China is actively supporting Indonesia in building the original vaccine manufacturing hub,” Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Xiao Qian stated during a webinar titled “Xinjiang Is A Good Place” here on Thursday.
To this end, as many as five Chinese companies are working closely with their Indonesian counterparts to support the industrial chain production of vaccines through varied technical routes, he noted.
By the start of November 2021, Sinovac and Sinopharm have supplied 41 batches of vaccines to Indonesia, totaling 247 million vaccine doses received collectively, he remarked.
“This accounts for 80 percent of all the vaccines received by Indonesia,” he stated.
The vaccine cooperation between Indonesia and China has become a pacesetter among regional countries,” according to the ambassador.
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Despite a complicated and volatile national or regional situation, both countries have maintained stability and certainty, and their general direction will not change, he emphasized.
“China and Indonesia are good neighbors, good friends, and good partners. Since the pandemic struck, China and Indonesia have been helping each other and have joined hands to fight the pandemic. This has led to a new chapter in our friendship,” he expounded.
Last April, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indonesian President Joko Widodo had engaged in a telephonic conversation for the first time since last year, providing strong political guidance to fight the pandemic and to develop the cooperation, he affirmed.
Meanwhile, in last June, China and Indonesia held a successful inaugural meeting, engaged in a dialog on the cooperation mechanism, and agreed to build the Indonesia-China community for the future.
“The two sides expanded cooperation in the maritime sector in addition to political, economic, cultural, and people-to-people exchanges as well as created new opportunities for the development of our bilateral relations,” he remarked.
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As earlier reported, Indonesia is competing with India and South Korea to emerge as a hub for training and transfer of knowledge for COVID-19 vaccine production in the Asia-Pacific region, a Foreign Affairs Ministry's official stated.
“At this moment, we are competing with India and South Korea for the (designation as a vaccine) hub,” Director of Socio-cultural Affairs and International Organization of Developing Countries at the ministry Penny D. Herasati stated.
Vaccine hubs are being planned by the World Health Organization (WHO) in several regions to achieve global herd immunity, she remarked.
South Africa has become the country hub for the African region owing to the low rate of vaccine production in the region, she added.
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