China lends helping hand to nations

A shipment of COVID-19 vaccines made by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm is loaded on a plane in Beijing on Wednesday before being transported to Senegal. This is the first batch of vaccines exported by China to a sub-Saharan country in Africa. [Photo provided to China Daily] 

Pandemic response

With the COVID-19 pandemic still posing an immense threat to the lives, safety, health and well-being of people worldwide as well as challenges to global public health security, China has made its contribution to a global community of health for all a priority in its future international development cooperation, as set out in the white paper.

Key measures include continuing to offer medical supplies to various nations, engaging in cooperation on medical technologies and working with the World Health Organization to help developing countries, especially in Africa, to fortify their public health defenses and improve the speed of their response and capacity for disease control.

On Wednesday morning, the first shipment of vaccines from China to a nation in sub-Saharan Africa－a planeload of COVID-19 vaccines bound for Senegal－departed Beijing Capital International Airport.

Zhang Jun, ambassador and permanent representative of China to the United Nations, wrote in an article last week that Chinese vaccine aid has been provided to 14 developing countries and will soon reach 38 more, as part of broader efforts to deliver on its pledge to make its vaccines a global public good.

The country is also slated to deliver 10 million doses of Chinese vaccines to COVAX, a UN facility that aims to ensure all countries have access to a safe, effective vaccine.

With the pandemic also causing a global economic downturn, causing the loss of 114 million jobs and increasing the number of poor people by 131 million worldwide, the importance of China's role in helping to attain the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda was also highlighted by analysts.

Promoting the implementation of the agenda was also listed as one of the priorities for China's international development cooperation.

"China will make eliminating poverty and improving people's lives its ultimate objective and implement more projects for improving living standards in developing countries, especially the least developed countries," the white paper said.

With his enterprise growing and more revenue coming in, Heqoa also expressed confidence in the future of his business.

"I have hired one employee and will be hiring more with time. My future plan is to be the director of the largest mushroom company in southern Africa and to help alleviate poverty by selling mushrooms in a very affordable way," he said.

Hu Meidong in Fuzhou contributed to this story.