China picks UAE for Sinopharm vaccine’s Middle East production hub

Name: UAE is first government to officially approve Chinese coronavirus vaccine developed by Sinopharm
Uploaded: 2021-03-28T14:55:22.000Z
Duration: 1 min 21 s
Description: UAE is first government to officially approve Chinese coronavirus vaccine developed by Sinopharm

Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries PSC said on Sunday it signed a contract to start manufacturing the vaccine from April

The deal deepens Beijing’s influence in the Gulf, long a bastion of US power

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Vials of Sinopharm vaccine are seen at a general practitioners office. Photo: Attila Balazs/MTI via AP

Bloomberg

Published: 10:55pm, 28 Mar 2021Updated: 11:02pm, 28 Mar 2021

The United Arab Emirates will become the first country to produce China’s Sinopharm vaccine abroad in a deal that deepens Beijing’s influence in the Gulf, long a bastion of US power.

Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries PSC said on Sunday it signed a contract to start manufacturing the vaccine from April, making UAE the first Gulf state to set up a coronavirus vaccine production facility and boosting its efforts to become a supply hub to the Middle East and beyond.

The agreement with Abu Dhabi’s G42 Medications Trading did not include details on how many doses will be manufactured. G42, which describes itself as an artificial intelligence and cloud computing firm, had helped roll out trials of the Sinopharm vaccine in the country.

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UAE is first government to officially approve Chinese coronavirus vaccine developed by Sinopharm

The state-backed Sinopharm vaccine was approved in the UAE last year after local late-stage trials showed it was 86 per cent effective in preventing infections. The country has since overseen one of the world’s fastest inoculation drives, with most people having received the Chinese vaccine.

The deal will bolster UAE’s ties with Beijing, which have strengthened since 2018 when President Xi Jinping visited Abu Dhabi and agreed to upgrade relations to China’s highest level. Foreign Minister Wang Yi, currently in the UAE for an official visit, said on Saturday the countries will expedite bilateral production of vaccines.

“It is a really clear signal that the UAE is China’s most trusted partner in the Middle East and it creates linkages with other countries in the region” said Jonathan Fulton, assistant professor at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed University and a specialist in China-Gulf relations.

Beijing has been building stronger Middle East links as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. On Saturday, it signed a 25-year deal with Iran outlining economic, political and trade relations. That poses an immediate challenge to US President Joe Biden’s administration as it seeks leverage with Tehran over resurrecting the 2015 nuclear deal.