Chinese President Xi Jinping to call for vaccine pledges at G20 health summit

Leader likely to make a pledge commitment on vaccines and talk about cooperation under Beijing’s Health Silk Road, global health expert says

‘China has been taking the lead in global coronavirus efforts and now the US is following, which can only be a good thing,’ think tank chief say

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Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver an address at the virtual G20 Global Health Summit in Rome on Friday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 6:30pm, 20 May 2021Updated: 11:18am, 21 May 2021

Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver an address at the virtual G20 Global Health Summit in Rome on Friday, as the world looks to leading economies for concrete commitments to fund and distribute Covid-19 vaccines equitably.

Xi will attend the event – co-hosted by the European Commission and Italy as chair of the G20 – via video link, China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday.

The leaders are set to adopt a “Rome Declaration” of principles with a series of commitments on global health, but will reportedly only back the voluntary licensing of Covid-19 vaccine patents to be manufactured in developing countries rather than the US’ call to temporarily waive vaccine patents to distribute shots, according to a draft seen by Reuters.

US President Joe Biden said in early May he would support calls from developing countries for the World Trade Organization to waive intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines. But European leaders raised concerns that the move was not a magic bullet and could hamper efforts to adapt vaccines to coronavirus variants. They said the US should instead urgently boost its vaccine exports.

Beijing this week also announced its support for the proposal for a waiver – backed by more than 100 mostly developing countries – to allow more equitable access to vaccines, but also criticised developed countries such as the US for hoarding shots.

Sara Davies, an expert in global health governance at Griffith University in Australia, said she expected Xi to make a pledge on vaccines and talk about cooperation under Beijing’s Health Silk Road as part of its Belt and Road Initiative.

“I think he will really flag his support for the waiver as a point of difference to the EU,” she said.

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